At least 25 people are affected by hemorrhoids disease in Timsa payam, on the frontier between southwestern Darfur and Bahr el Ghazal. There is no treatment available for hemorrhoids or for other common illnesses including malaria and diarrhea.
Idriss Teldi Idriss, a health worker who has spent more than ten years in Timsa, said no drugs have reached the payam since July. The road leading to the area was impassable for vehicles during the rainy season.
The primary health clinic in Timsa lacks drugs, said Idriss, explaining that the most common diseases are malaria, diarrhea, joint pain, stomach problems and hemorrhoids disease.
“Now 25 people, both men and women, are affected by the hemorrhoids disease and no treatment so far has been done due to lack of drugs and doctors as well,” he said.
“We’ve written many letters to the ministry of health to see how they can help the people here,” he said.
The host community in Timsa is better off than the returnees, according to the health worker, because the latter have fewer mosquito nets, food, and shelters, factors that contribute to the spread of diseases among them.
County officials, meanwhile, have also expressed concern that yellow fever could spread to Raja County from South Darfur. The health worker in Timsa said that seven to ten vehicles are now coming daily from Darfur carrying goods and people.
Photo by Radio Tamazuj: Women at the delivery unit of the primary health care clinic in Timsa payam, Western Bahr el Ghazal state.