Terekeka community members gather under a tree during commemoration of World Radio Day. (Photo: Lou Nelson/Eye Radio).

Local communities in Terekeka County in Central Equatoria face significant challenges in accessing healthcare services due to the long distances to health facilities, poor road conditions, and inadequate transportation options, said a medical doctor.

Dr. Augustinio Awan James, who works at Terekeka County Hospital said the facility – recently upgraded from a primary healthcare center to a county hospital – does not match its capacity to provide medical service due to understaffing and a and a lack of mobility.

Awan stated that the hospital is affected by a dire staff shortage, as its workers have declined from 41 people when it was a PHCC to only 23 people after it was upgraded by the Ministry of Health.

He said the facility’s operation is severely limited, with only one ambulance available for the entire region, making emergency patient transfers inadequate. He said many sick people in the remote areas are unable to afford money to hire vehicles in the case of a medical emergency.

“The community is not able to get health services in time. Whenever they need services, they don’t get it at the time because of the poor roads and lack of transportation,” he said.

“The other challenge is the issue of the staffing. The staff also are few in the county, more especially at Terekeka County Hospital, which has been just upgraded to a county hospital.”

“But the number of staff there is still not matching with the services that have been given in the facility. Like before, during the HPF program, and it was PHCC high, it was having 41 staff. But now with the health system transformation project, it has only 23.”

According to him, this further complicates the situation, undermining the hospital’s ability to serve the community effectively.

He said addressing these problems requires prioritizing funding and staffing for the hospital by state and national governments, as well as local and international partners.

Besides, he said, improving transportation infrastructure is also essential to enhance access to healthcare services and improve health outcomes in the region.

Dr. Augustino Awan added that the withdrawal of support from the CIMOC Center has worsened the situation, forcing all obstetric emergencies to be sent to Juba for care.

“We need additional ambulances so that to ease or to facilitate the issue of repairing a person, and the biggest challenge here is the removal of support from the CIMOC Center at Terekeka County Hospital.”

“Again, we are going to suffer the issue of repairing patients from Terekeka to Juba again. We used to do any obstetric emergencies here at the facility, but currently, all the cases have been repaired to Juba, and with this economic crisis, some will not afford going to Juba due to all the expenses there.”