The Red Cross says that the massive influx of conflict-displaced people to Kodok in Upper Nile state since earlier this year has left a major healthcare gap that the local health services are unable to meet.

In a press statement, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) explained that the local health clinics cannot cope with the influx of displaced, which includes many women and children who traveled long distances to reach safety.

“In many places affected by violence, small towns and villages have turned into new population centres overnight,” pointed out the ICRC.

Kerry Page, an ICRC health programme coordinator in South Sudan said, "The pressure that this influx of people has put on already weak health-care infrastructure has been enormous.”

“In Upper Nile state, the population in and around Kodok tripled in a matter of days. Some 100,000 civilians have taken refuge there, and because the situation remains unpredictable, they are not likely to leave soon,” she noted.  

Currently, a four-member ICRC surgical team are working together with a paediatrician and a nurse in Kodok's primary health-care centre, where they see more than 600 patients every week.

The ICRC is also improving the facility's water system, repairing its electrical system and building a new waiting area, according to the press statement.

Photo: Medical personnel attend to a child in the hospital in Kodok, Upper Nile state (ICRC/Pawel Krzysiek)