Current situation in Wanding
South Sudan is a very poor country that has been scourged by wars, acts of violence, drought and food shortages for many years. Due to this many people have fled the region in the search for better prospects. Especially the state of Upper Nile has been impoverished due to clashes between the Nuer and the Murle that lasted for many years. In general these clashes were initiated by cattle theft and acts of revenge. Also there were clashes due to rivalry between mutual Nuer groups like the Lou and Jikany.
The consequences of these internal wars are enormous. For many years this region has been known as a very unsafe area. Many have died and other inhabitants have fled to the city of Nasir or are located in the refugee camp of Matar on the Ethiopian side oof the border.
However there have been periods of relative peace in this area. But there are just too few people that want to return to their home villages. One of the most important reasons is the lack of medical provisions that causes a high mortality rate amongst women and children. Already a lot of children could be treated for infectious diseases if there was medicine available but since there is none they die unnessecarily. If people want medical care today they need to travel about 40 kilometers to the closest hospital. This is a journey that many people can’t even
The population of Wanding counts about 17.000 former refugees. It was expected that by the end of 2012 another 25.000 people would have come back to this area. This would mean Wanding would have a total of 42.000 inhabitants.
In Wanding there is no hospital ar any other medical facility. The nearest hospitals are in Akobo which is 40 kilometers away and can only be reached on foot (13 hours) or by boat (5 hours) and in Nasir which is 60 kilometers away and can’t even be reached by car. Due to these circumstances there is a great need for a medical centre in Wanding.
Wanding Health Center
All this emphasizes the urgent need for a proper medical centre in this area. The medical centre will be erected in the town of Wanding, dozens of kilometers north of the city of Akobo in Jonglei State and not far from the Ethiopian border. The primary health care centre will be constructed in cooperation with our regional cooperation partner. The care given to patients will be executed under the supervision of a clinical officer. The care itself will be aiming at giving consultation and medical advise next to the execution of a number of small medical acts. In case of more complex complaints the patients will be redirected to the nearest hospital.
Construction of the Health Care Centre
The local community will provide land on which the Health Care Centre can be built. The plot should be large enough for any future expansion of the Health Centre even to the extent that it might grow into a small hospital. The clinic should be built on a convenient location and should be easily accessible for the various target groups. Also it should be easy to connect it to the local water and electricity facilities.
The building itself will consist of 11 rooms:
1. Waiting Room
2. Registration Room (also used for the execution of small medical anamnesis – checking of temperature, weight, blood pressure etc.)
3. Room for small medical interventions (vaccinations, injections, wound treatment etc.)
4. Consultancy Room (for the Physician/Clinical Officer)
5. Maternity Room (3 beds)
6. Operating Room-1 (for simple operations, Caesarean section, etc.)
7. Operating room-2 (due to hygienic requirements only to be used for eye operations)
8. “Under 5 Clinic” Room (with appropriate equipment, a weighing scale etc.)
9. Small Laboratory
10. Pharmacy
11. Archive for medical files
Organisation
The care given to patients will be executed under the supervision of a clinical officer. The care itself will be aiming at giving consultation and medical advise next to the execution of a number of small medical acts. In case of more complex complaints the patients will be redirected to the nearest hospital. The clinic will be lead by a physician (Clinical Officer) and the treatments will be executed by medically trained personnel (Clinical Officer, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, laboratory staff and other health professionals). The medical and other personnel will be employed by the government of South Sudan who will be responsible for their pay.
Cooperation
The following partnerships will be established:
Republic of South Sudan: The Ministry of Health will appoint the staff of the Health Care Centre. The staff will be employed and be paid by the Ministry.
Local community: they will provide land on which the Health Care Centre can be built. Also they will provide building materials (sand and stones) beside human resources, construction workers and others that can lend a helping hand.
YARD, a non-governmental organisation that has its main office in Juba, South Sudan. This is the only organisation that is active in the Wanding area.
Hospitals in Akobo and Nasir: for the referring of patients and the provision of medical treatment that can´t be done in the Health Centre. Also medical advise or consult will be sought with the doctors/clinical officers from those hospitals if necessary.
Bureau Inzicht: that played an important role for the development of the project plan. This bureau will assist the foundation via coaching conversations and will play a role for the content wise and financial accountability.