 has issued an urgent call for all parties involved in the ongoing conflict in the Upper Nile State to respect and protect healthcare workers, civilians, and medical facilities. ){kind=link}
Otto Abut
The international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has issued an urgent call for all parties involved in the ongoing conflict in the Upper Nile State to respect and protect healthcare workers, civilians, and medical facilities.
This appeal comes as violence and displacement escalate across the region.
On Friday, April 11, 2025, MSF reiterated its commitment to delivering lifesaving medical services in some of the last remaining functional health facilities in the Upper Nile State.
The organization is currently supporting hospitals in Ulang and Malakal, where teams are treating an increasing number of patients with injuries related to the violence, as well as cases of cholera.
MSF’s Head of Mission in South Sudan, Zakaria Mwatia, warned that the cholera outbreak, combined with insecurity and limited access to clean water and sanitation, is placing local communities at even greater risk.
“With cholera spreading and violence continuing, the need for medical care in Upper Nile State has become more critical than ever before,” said Mwatia.
Since February, over 430 cholera patients have been treated at Ulang Hospital—currently the only operational health facility in the area. Despite the deteriorating security situation, many residents—including women, children, and the elderly—have remained in their homes across Ulang and Malakal counties.
“In a context where functioning health facilities are already limited, the few remaining hospitals are a lifeline,” Mwatia emphasized. “It is vital that medical facilities, patients, and healthcare workers are protected, and that access to care is not obstructed.”
In recent weeks, MSF teams in Ulang and Malakal have provided medical attention to over 230 patients, many of them women and children, for violence-related injuries.