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Health CrisisDiseases such as malaria, typhoid, meningitis, cholera, tuberculosis and leprosy, have been all but eradicated in the west, and yet continue to claim young African lives at a great rate every year. Last summer, in Warab state (in which Tonj is found), an outbreak of meningitis caused by unsafe drinking water killed thousands, including a member of the Warab State Parliament, the late Amal Al Taher. In the whole of Warab state, there are currently only three health clinics run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the Norwegian Church and the Catholic Church. These clinics serve approximately 1.4 million people in Warab State. These clinics alone cannot deliver services adequately across the 31,000 sq. km of the state, leaving the majority of the population with a two day walk to access basic health care.The health situation for the entire population in Southern Sudan is grim. Food shortages and destruction of health services during the war has severely restricted access to health services, particularly for children & adolescents. Sudanese people are at constant risk of contracting many diseases that can be deadly if left untreated. Children and others with weakened immune systems are generally among the most susceptible to these diseases, which include trachoma, malaria, cholera, measles and tuberculosis. Lack of health care and malnutrition exacerbate the impact of infectious diseases on children. Diarrhoea is also a severe problem that goes largely untreated. In 2000, 45 percent of children under age five participating in a UNICEF survey in southern Sudan were reported to have had diarrhoea in the 15 days prior to the survey. HIV/AIDS in Southern SudanUNAIDS and the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that in Sudan approximately 450,000 people, including 30,000 children aged 15 and under, contracted HIV/AIDS at the end of 2001, and 62,000 children had lost either a mother or both parents to AIDS. In 2001, an estimated 23,000 people died of HIV/AIDS. Estimates of the prevalence rate in the southern sector range from three to 20 percent. NGOs also report that refugee populations returning from high prevalence areas are likely to be contributing to the infection's spread in Southern Sudanese communities. Information and knowledge about HIV/AIDS is extremely limited in Southern Sudan, especially among children, adolescents and rural populations.A UNICEF study conducted in 2000 confirmed that 75 percent of people in Bahr el Ghazal and Jongeli had never heard of HIV/AIDS. In the Upper Nile region this figure was 82 percent. Prevention programs for mother-to-child transmission do not currently exist. |
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