South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
Expectant mothers who often visit Abiemnhom County hospital for routine antenatal services in Ruweng Administrative Area are stuck after the health facility run out of medicine.
Nyanyok Regina Chol, the community midwife in Abiemnhom hospital, said in an interview last week that they are finding it extremely difficult to support expectant mothers to ensure they deliver safely due to lack of drugs and equipment.
‘’We have run out of drugs which we use in the maternity ward like oxytocin and mistropozole, if there is support we can help mothers to deliver during labor,’’ said Chol.
Chol revealed that Abiemnhom County hospital receives on average 16 mothers daily including 7 in antenatal care unit, and 5 in the inpatient department and also 4 labor cases.
“We often run out of malaria drugs such as quinine, which is an important drug we use most of the time during pregnancy,” she said.
Chol admitted that they on several occasions send patients to buy drugs outside the health facility.
Another midwife, Merlyne Edward, said that they keep on referring some patients for specialized treatment bto Wau Teaching Hospital based in Western Bahr El Ghazel State.
‘’We lack gloves which are very important for handling labor cases and we do not have medicine and mosquito nets, we have recently referred five patients to Wau,’’ said Edward.
Ador Manyiel Majok Kuot, the Abiemnhom County Commissioner said the area hosts about 21,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) as well as returnees who arrived from war-torn Sudan.
‘’We have a very small health facility, the hospital is not enough because there are many patients not only from Abiemnhom, but those from Mayom County of Unity state, Twic county of Warrap State and Abyei Administrative Area often visit this health facility for services,’’ said Kuot.
Simon Mayol, the health director for Abiemnhom hospital, said that since the international NGO Care International pull out of funding the facility, they have experienced since chronic shortage of medicines.
‘’The County hospital is run with support from partners but Care International has pulled out and Cordaid which is a new partner has not yet reached Abiemnhom, we are experiencing shortage of drugs, the first quarter supply of medicines received in June 2024 has finished,’’ said Mayol.
