There is a severe shortage of essential medicines across the country, the medical charity, MSF, has said.

It says this is due to the withdrawal of the Emergency Medicines Fund, EMF. Until June 2015, international donors provided for the funding, procurement and provision of essential medicines in South Sudan through EMF.

This has seriously affected Primary Health Care Centers, even in areas less affected by the conflict.

The charity raised the concern in an open letter to international donors and the humanitarian community, written by its international president, Joanne Liu.

“The conflict in South Sudan has now continued for over two years, heavily impacting its population,” Dr Liu wrote, calling the worsening drug shortages “an additional and preventable medical emergency.”

The MSF says the shortage was discovered last year, when it had to treat more patients than ever before, for severe malaria.

The charity says many people, after suffering from severe illnesses, sought treatment at its facilities due to lack of access to medicines at local health centers.

MSF says that while the objectives of the program had officially been handed back to the government, there was little doubt that they would not be able to fill this gap due to the continuing crisis.

“A new rainy season is approaching fast, promising new outbreaks as well as complicated logistics,” Dr. Liu wrote.

“It is not a situation that one actor can resolve on their own, but concerted efforts seem to be lacking. We are therefore calling upon all donors, actors and authorities again to come together to avert a complete medical crisis which adds to an already dire humanitarian situation.”