Medical workers in Agok hospital say they are treating 50 to 60 cases of skin conditions such as scabies and allergic reactions every day. Health authorities are advising people to practice good hygiene as they try to tackle the outbreak of skin diseases.

The diseases affect sensitive parts of the body, such as the arm pits, groin, buttocks, elbows and inner ear, and children are particularly at risk. In severe cases, patients cannot sit or even cross their fingers.

Nyanbol Mawien’s one-year-old son has blisters all over his body. She said that he cried all night and could not get any relief from the itching. He made his sores worse by scratching them.

Kuol Mading Malual is a medical assistant at Agok hospital, run by the Abyei Area Authority. He said new cases were being seen every day, and it was best if people came in the early stages of the disease. Personal hygiene was very important in order to avoid conditions in which lice could breed in the skin. Even touching a person with scabies could transfer the infection, he said.

A public health observer in Agok, Dau Ayiik Miyom, recommended spraying household furniture with insecticide. Clothes should be kept clean, as should bed sheets.

Staff at the clinic in Juoljok run by the humanitarian organization, Goal Ireland, say they are registering around 25 new cases of skin diseases each day. The head of the clinical officers there, Aguar Deng Ajak, said the rate of infection had started to go down after people were made more aware of how to combat and prevent skin diseases.

Patients were given health education both before and after receiving their medicines, he said. Health officials in the AAA say they are to hold a meeting with NGOs to decide how best to co-ordinate efforts to provide different drugs to cure skin diseases.

Reporting by Abyei Today

File photo: Agok Civil Hospital