Two women died last week in Geissan, Blue Nile State, reportedly due to lack of medicines and inadequate facilities at the local hospital. Citizens of the area are complaining of poor sanitary conditions and lack of general basic services.

Locals said that their area is witnessing a terrible deterioration in health services, pointing to the incident last week when a woman of nine months pregnant was brought to the hospital and was in need of urgent caesarean operation in order to bring out the fetus. The hospital lacked medicines, operating tools and even basic first-aid medicines were not available.

They said that doctor told them that he was unable to do anything to the patient as there were no facilities in order to assist, before the pregnant woman died.

The sources revealed that another case happened previously as a result of high pressure hit and brain haemorrhage, adding that the hospital is unable to provide treatment for high blood pressure’s patients as dozens of patients are now admitted in the hospital.

However, medical sources confirmed that about 30 people with diabetes cases are currently admitted in the hospital, but no medication offered for them for almost a period of one month, in addition to cases of malaria, dysentery, respiration infections and intestinal infection among the infants.

“We do raise periodic reports to the administration in the state ministry of health on the health status and hospital conditions that require maintenance, ambulance, medicine, and medical tools for surgery department, but we receive only promises,” a medical source said.

Pointing to the complexity of the security measures for vehicles entering and leaving the area, which hindered the transfer of patients to Damazin Hospital, where security authorities allow only the movement of the government vehicles.

In another development, citizens pointed to a lack of consumers goods in the local markets, amid arrivals by thousands of returnees from Ethiopia who are cramming schools and open spaces, without any humanitarian assistance or government support.