Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, on Thursday sounded the alarm over a sharp rise in attacks on medical facilities across South Sudan, saying the intensifying conflict has triggered mass displacement and left fragile health centers overwhelmed.
While South Sudan has endured years of unrest and political strife, recent tensions between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar have erupted into renewed fighting between their forces in several regions.
Though international attention has centered on violence in Upper Nile state, the MSF said clashes have also flared in Jonglei, Unity and Western and Central Equatoria states, straining already scarce medical resources.
“We are talking about a major conflict that is taking place over multiple fronts and multiple locations,” said MSF operations manager Bakri Abubakr.
Abubakr labeled the subsequent displacement a “major crisis,” with roughly 60,000 people displaced in Upper Nile state and 50,000 in Jonglei alone.
MSF teams witnessed entire villages displaced, he said, noting that “hospitals, health facilities and community facilities have been abandoned as well by their staff.”
“We are witnessing a collapsing health system in the country,” he added, noting that only half of South Sudan’s medical facilities were operational even before the latest fighting.
Roughly 80% of the country’s health care system is funded by international organizations, MSF said, with Juba contributing just 1.3% from its national budget.
“We see a rise in attacks on health care facilities, medical personnel and the civilian population,” said MSF’s Abdalla Hussein, citing attacks on White Nile River barges carrying vital supplies and looting of remote outposts.
The United Nations says eight medical facilities have been struck this year, and MSF believes the actual number could be even higher.
MSF head of mission Zakariya Mwatia described rising numbers of wounded arriving in Malakal city after weeks of sleeping rough and traveling through the bush, their health hanging by a thread – with staff unable to save them.
“We are yet to see the worst,” he said.
