South Sudan

An MSF community-based care team member working in a camp for people who have been displaced by flooding in Unity State discusses sexual and gender-based violence with people in the camp. South Sudan, 2021. © Sean Sutton
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Staff in 2021 (full-time equivalents): 2,695 locally hired; 258 internationally hired Expenditure in 2021: $115 million
KEY 2021 MEDICAL FIGURES:

667,400

outpatient consultations

213,200

malaria cases treated

11,900

vaccinations against measles in response to an outbreak


In July 2021, the Republic of South Sudan marked 10 years of independence. However, despite a peace agreement and a unified government, the security situation remained volatile in many areas.

Furthermore, the country was hit by severe flooding, food insecurity and disease outbreaks. By the end of the year, 8.9 million people – more than two-thirds of the population – were estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance. MSF continued to respond to critical medical and humanitarian needs, while maintaining essential healthcare services across six states and two administrative areas.

In response to the floods, MSF delivered emergency healthcare through mobile clinics, hospitals and health centres in Unity and Jonglei states, the worst affected regions. Across these projects, we treated tens of thousands of people, mostly for malaria, malnutrition, respiratory tract infections and acute watery diarrhea and distributed relief items to displaced families.

Many fleeing the floods found themselves in camps set up for people seeking safety from fighting. MSF ran hospitals in several camps, which were administered by the UN or the national government. Conditions here were dire, leading to disease outbreaks, including a hepatitis E outbreak in Bentui camp. When food rations were cut by 50 per cent, severe acute malnutrition levels rose well above emergency thresholds. We opened a third inpatient therapeutic feeding centre in our hospital in Bentui camp to address an 80 per cent increase in admissions.

In addition to working in the camps, MSF ran mobile clinics across the country for people who were displaced, offering basic health services, routine vaccinations, mental health support, screenings for malnutrition and malaria treatment. We also supported hospitals, including in Aweil, where we launched a seasonal malaria chemoprevention program aiming to reduce the high numbers of deaths from the disease. By the end of the year, our teams had reached tens of thousands of children.

The maps and place names used do not reflect any position by MSF on their legal status.