Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF is gravely concerned about an imminent attack on the town of Leer in South Sudan, forcing out to withdraw the international staff and halt all medical services at Leer Hospital due to the heavy fighting in Unity State.
Deputy Operations Director Pete Buth in a statement tells the warring parties to take immediate steps to ensure that civilians, humanitarian staff and their facilities including vehicles are not targeted.
He hopes not to see a repeat of what happened last year where the hospital was burned and looted, national staff forced to flee into bushes, carrying critically ill patients on their backs.
MSF Head of Mission Paul Critchley laments that patients were not only deprived of care, but ongoing treatment for conditions such as HIV, TB and Kala-azar was also interrupted.
He says the situation increases vulnerability to malaria and diarrheal diseases as patients and staff living in the open swamps are forced to feed on roots, wild fruits and drinking dirty water.
In March 2015, MSF medical staff admitted 264 inpatients in the Leer Hospital and managed 6,473 outpatients and 1,116 malnourished children from Leer town and surroundings.