Locals in Majok Yinh Thiou Municipality of Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal State have said they lack medicine and have since resorted to using herbs or trekking to neighboring Sudan to access healthcare.
Aguok Kuol, the area chief, said there are no health services in the area prompting the community to seek better health services from Sudan.
“We don’t have a hospital where people get treated and that is why many people decide to go to Sudan. This is the only challenge facing our youth and women,’’ Chief Kuol said.
A herbalist, Marko Ajou, said there are no medicines despite the presence of a health facility in the border town.
“We have seen that the hospital was erected and there are no medicines at all. There are just tablets which cannot treat some health problems.
Many people, including small children and elderly persons, pass on due to lack of medicines,’’ said Ajou.
Ajou offers leaves and roots to the sick who come for his services. Some of the trees in his compound are acacia, neem, and lemon.
Nyanut Aleu, a 60-year-old woman, says she has never gone to the Majok Yinh Thiou healthcare facility since it was established in 2014.
“I have never gone to the hospital. I endure sickness at home and sometimes I can use leaves and roots of trees,’’ Aleu explains.
The Director for Majok Yinh Thiou Hospital, William Maken Madut, said there are a lot of problems in the health facility which include insufficient health equipment and lack of medicines.
He proposed that the government and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) urgently upgrade the facility from a primary health care unit to a primary care center and provide enough medicines.
“What faces Majok Yinh Thiou Hospital is a huge population and there are not enough drugs. We are just managing them wisely. We usually receive anti-malarial, amoxicillin, paracetamol, and some important stocks. I hope to receive them when this hospital is turned into a primary healthcare center,’’ Maken says.
For his part, Dr. Aleu Pioth, the Director-General in the Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal State health ministry, said the ministry has discussed with partners, especially Health Pooled Fund (HPF), to find ways for upgrading the hospital and allocate medical consignment directly from Juba.
“Yes, we proposed in our recent meeting with the partners, if it is approved, the medicines will be brought to the citizens of Majok and incentives for health workers. We sent a document to the Health Pooled Fund in Juba so that the hospital is upgraded into a primary healthcare center,” Dr. Pioth said.