Juba's Internally Displaced Persons Camp located along Juba-Yei road | Credit | Courtesy

The chairperson of the Internally Displaced Persons camp 3 in Juba said three people have died of suspected cholera cases and nine others have been admitted to hospital with similar symptoms.

Elijah Hon said they have reported the incidents to the state government, the Ministry of Health and the UN Mission in South Sudan.

Mr. Hon. described the hygiene and sanitation situation in the camp as tragic and called on the government and humanitarian partners to intervene and save lives.

He said the local hospital is closed after the International Medical Corps (IMC) which previously managed it left, adding that there is no other public health facility in the camp.

“In PoC-3 here we have cases of cholera. Yesterday (Tuesday), three died and there were nine cases during the day and night times. The issue is that we don’t have a hospital.”

He narrated that the camp residents are enduring limited access to clean water and unhygienic condition caused by undisposed garbage and open defecation.

He urged the health partners to deliver cholera vaccines  and raise awareness on the disease prevention and treatment.

“We reported it to UN and now we are reporting to the government through the media, so that the ministry of health in the state and national government can come and do something for us, like establishing centers for our people, and  get drugs.”

When contacted, Central Equatoria State Minister of Health Najwa Juma Mursal said her surveillance team is aware of the situation and working to intervene.

“The rapid response team headed by the director general of the state and surveillance are working and even we have established centers in El Sabah Hospital, Hai Baraka, and Gorei Hospital as centres for Cholera treatment,” she said.

Last month, the Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) secured over 282 153 doses of oral cholera vaccine to implement vaccination campaigns in areas identified as cholera transmission hotspots.