South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
Medical charity Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) and health authorities on Tuesday launched Hepatitis E mass vaccination campaign to reach remote communities and prevent more deaths in Old Fangak of Jonglei State.
Mamman Mustapha, MSF’s Head of Mission in South Sudan said in a statement that Hepatitis E is a waterborne disease that can be fatal.
“Around 20 million people become infected every year, and of these, three million people experience symptoms that require treatment. However, not everyone is able to access treatment in good time – especially in countries with limited numbers of health facilities like South Sudan,” Mustapha said.
Mustapha said that the disease which kills over 70,000 people each year across the world has no cure.
“In such locations, even if people do eventually manage to get to a hospital, it is often too late. There is no cure for hepatitis E and sadly, 70,000 people die from the disease each year. This is why the vaccine is so important– it can save lives,” he disclosed.
Mustapha said that there could be more unreported deaths in the communities.
“Reaching a health facility was already hard for people in this harsh environment – now, the flooding has made it is even more difficult,” he said.
“We know for certain that 21 people have died from hepatitis E during this current outbreak, but that is only because they were able to reach the hospital,” he added.
MSF said that this is the first vaccination campaign to be conducted during the acute stages of an active outbreak in the remote and isolated part of South Sudan and it is intended to prevent further loss of life.
According to MSF, some 501 cases of hepatitis E have been treated at the MSF hospital in Old Fangak, Jonglei state, and 21 people have died, mainly women since April 2023.
It said the fatality can be as high as 40 percent for pregnant women, and there is no cure, meaning that many people with advanced stages of illness do not survive.
