Sudan

Situation Report
Feature
Flooded-neighbourhood-in-Khartoum Sept20 OCHA small
A flooded neighbourhood in Khartoum State (OCHA, 2020)

SHF supports free medical care for flood-displaced people north of Khartoum

Malak Abdulaziz is happy that her one-and-a-half-year-old son, Osman Mohammed, is getting better after receiving treatment at the temporary health facility in Wad-Ramli, north of Khartoum, that offers medical care to people affected by the floods of 2020.

Malak’s home was destroyed by the floods and she is now living with relatives as she waits for the government to provide a land plot to rebuild their homes. The September 2020 floods were devastating to Wad-Ramli residents who farm on the banks of River Nile as they were just recovering from the effects of the 2019 floods when the 2020 floods struck with more severity.

One day her son stopped eating and she knew there was something wrong. She took young Osman to the clinic run by the national NGO Almanar Voluntary Organization where he was found to be anaemic and was placed on medication. A week later, when she took him back for a review, the doctor reassured her that he was doing well. Malak was happy to see that he was eating well and seemed to have more energy.

The tented temporary health facility where Osman was receiving medical assistance is managed by Almanar with the support of the Sudan Ministry of Health and funding by the Sudan Humanitarian Fund. The health facility offers free medical assistance to about 5,000 people in the area affected by the 2020 floods.

Malak lost everything in the floods and would not have been able to afford medical care for her son. “The floods destroyed our house, furniture, food - we lost everything. We now live in my cousin’s house with five other people. This clinic has given us a life-line as it is difficult for us to re-establish ourselves after we lost our home,” she said.

The health facility is made up of three tents and receives between 70 and 100 patients daily. The most common heath issues attended to in the clinic are respiratory and skin diseases, and malaria. Some children under five years arrive at the clinic suffering from moderate malnutrition, while the most common chronic diseases the clinic receives are hypertension and diabetes. The health facility does not charge for consultations, laboratory investigations or medicine. Tests for malaria, typhoid, blood haemoglobin, helicobacter pylori (a bacterial infection in the stomach that usually happens to children) and pregnancy are carried out at the health facility for free.

The clinic's staff consist of two laboratory technicians, two medical assistants, two pharmacists and 10 community volunteers. The health facility can facilitate referrals to the larger government-managed hospital about 10km away. Also, Almanar will carry out health awareness sessions and training of health staff once the COVID-19 protocols allow. The project is expected to end in May 2021.

For more on SHF and how to donate, please see the link

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