Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has opened a centre for cholera treatment at Gurei residential area in Juba town in South Sudan’s Central Equatorial State.

The director of the organization said they have started working in the centre, saying they received nearly 10 cases on the first and the second day since the launch of the centre.

He urged the citizens who are residing at Gudele and Gurei residential areas to report suspected cases of cholera to the centre.

For his part, the undersecretary of the national health ministry Dr. Richard Laku pointed out that the opening of the centre by MSF shows solidarity of the international partners with the government to fight against the outbreak in South Sudan.  

He noted the centre was opened in Gurei area because most of the recorded cases come from western side of Juba town.

“The ministry of health availed about four ambulances to the centre, so the organization is working in full cooperation with the government,” he explained.

“Citizens should not waste their money and time on transport,” he added. The official urged the citizens to report the suspected cases the centre by emergency number.

Since mid-May, MSF has also been providing supplies to a number of small health clinics in the city, according to a recent MSF press release.

These donations included cholera beds, testing kits, chlorine solution, and oral rehydration salts (ORS). MSF also sent cholera-experienced clinicians and a water and sanitation expert to support hospital staff.

The organization is also working in the UN-protected displaced at Tongping and UN House, where one laboratory-confirmed case of cholera was found. Though vaccination campaigns have been carried out in the camps, the vaccines have limited effectiveness.

IRIN news agency reported today that health officials view the camps as high-risk areas, quoting MSF field coordinator Stefan Liljegren as saying that the vaccine offers only 65 percent coverage, which means there is still the potential for thousands of people to become sick.

MSF has already set up cholera treatment centers in each of the camps. The people there have “very close access” to cholera treatment centers, said Liljegren.

File photo: Cleaning of shoes at a cholera treatment center in Juba (Medair/Wendy van Amerongen)