The international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it has launched a new project aimed at reaching people cut off from medical care in Maban County of Upper Nile state.

In a statement extended to Radio Tamazuj Tuesday, MSF said its teams have started running mobile clinics in Mahalia and Pumki, two of the county’s most remote areas, with the aim of taking basic medical care to people for whom it is otherwise out of reach, due to long distances, difficult geographical terrain and intermittent violent clashes.

The organization further said it is handing over responsibility for its clinic in Doro refugee camp to the non-profit organisation Relief International and focusing instead on running mobile clinics in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

“Handing over our clinic in Doro doesn’t mean putting an end to our activities in Maban County,” says Azaad Alocco, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. “With other organisations able to provide medical assistance to people in the camp, MSF has decided to focus on a more mobile and agile approach, in order to ensure that, even in the harder-to-reach areas, people can access free quality healthcare and that our teams can respond promptly to health emergencies.”

For the past 10 years, MSF teams in Doro refugee camp have provided healthcare, including outpatient consultations, treatment for severe acute malnutrition, maternal healthcare and neonatal care to people fleeing violence in Sudan’s Blue Nile state and to people displaced from their homes elsewhere in Maban County.

Over the years, hundreds of staff, both South Sudanese and international, have worked for MSF in Maban County, providing medical services to thousands of people living in four camps (Doro, Batil, Gendrassa and Jamam).

“In the past 10 years, MSF has carried out over one million outpatient consultations, assisted more than 21,700 deliveries, treated around 200,000 patients for malaria and almost 4,500 children for malnutrition,” says Mathias Goemaere, MSF field coordinator in Maban county. “Although our work over the past decade in Maban has not been without its challenges, we always appreciated working with the local population and with the Ministry of Health and other partners. In the months ahead, we welcome their support in ensuring we are able to reach all communities in need through our new medical outreach programme.”

The medical organization reiterated its commitment to remain one of the active providers of emergency healthcare across Maban County and in South Sudan as a whole.