KHARTOUM – The humanitarian medical organization founded by Gino Strada has opened a new pediatric clinic in Khartoum – in the midst of war – located inside the Salam Center for Cardiac Surgery (in the Soba neighborhood, south of Khartoum) and will provide healthcare to mothers and children up to 14 years of age. Since 15 April 2023, the day the conflict broke out in Sudan, almost 25 million people have needed humanitarian assistance, of which 14 million are children. Sudan is currently the country with the highest number of internally displaced people in the world. In total there are eight million refugees and internally displaced persons, half of whom are minors.
Severely wasted children. Since the beginning of the war between the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) and the RSF (Rapid Support Forces), which will be one year old in a few weeks, more than 700,000 children have been affected by severe wasting and are at high risk of not surviving without the necessary care; 1.7 million minors under one year of age risk not receiving essential vaccinations. Over three million under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition and 700,000 could die from the most severe form if they do not receive medical treatment.[2]
The main pathologies. “The patients we receive mostly have gastroenteritis, malaria and respiratory diseases – says Manuela Valenti, head of the Pediatric Division of EMERGENCY –. They come mainly from the area surrounding Salam, but also from the rest of the city. Moving is very difficult due to the risk of getting involved in fighting or due to the high cost of fuel. Sudanese staff who, until the outbreak of the war, had worked in our pediatric center in the Mayo refugee camp, which we had to close due to difficult security conditions, also work in the clinic. Other colleagues were already working at the Salam Center.”
The composition of the medical team. The team is made up of a medical officer, an emergency medicine specialist, and a pediatrician, all Sudanese. Furthermore there are nurses, Sudanese and international, and three health promoters. The clinic is structured with a triage area, two outpatient clinics, an observation and stabilization room with four beds, a pharmacy and a laboratory.
Still there, despite the war. EMERGENCY, active in the country since 2003, remained even after the outbreak of the war, carrying out its activities in the Salam Center for Cardiac Surgery in Khartoum and in its pediatric centers in Port Sudan (Red Sea State) and Nyala (South Darfur). Since the beginning of the conflict you have been forced to close the pediatric center in Mayo (south of Khartoum) due to difficult security conditions.
The looting last October. In October 2023, the Nyala Pediatric Center was looted by the RSF and its staff was arrested and then released. It therefore had to temporarily suspend activities dedicated to children, continuing only with check-ups for cardiac patients operated on at the Salam Centre.
“Despite the significant difficulties in carrying out the activity, we continue to not leave the Sudanese alone”, concludes Valenti.
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– 2024-03-29 06:03:08
