Patients die as medical staff vacate hospital in Upper Nile State

On the morning of Sunday, 5 July, a hospital in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State supported by an ICRC surgical team was caught in the crossfire of heavy fighting in Kodok. As a direct result, two people -one of whom was a patient- were killed and 11 people injured. The hospital sustained material damage.

As a result of the dangers of the fighting, doctors and nurses left the hospital on Sunday. Since then and in the absence of surgical expertise, an additional 11 patients have died.  Many more wounded people in the fighting, have arrived at the hospital. Several patients have been left with minimal health services. The Kodok hospital normally serves a community of tens of thousands of people, with 500 to 700 consultations per week visiting the hospital in need of medical care.

Konrad Bark, an ICRC delegate who had been working in Kodok, noted that both international and national health care providers have been forced to leave the hospital over safety concerns even as the number of incoming patients is rising.

The ICRC has reminded South Sudan’s warring factions that precautions must be taken in the conduct of military operations to avoid and minimize loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian structures. The ICRC reiterates the warring factions' obligation to respect and protect medical personnel and medical facilities.

(ICRC/ South Sudan: CRN)