A medical NGO operating in South Sudan said the current kala azar outbreak is a symptom of the wider medical humanitarian crisis facing the region.
Southern Sudan is at odds with its worst kala azar outbreak in eight years with thousands being affected by the deadly neglected tropical disease.
The international emergency aid agency MŽdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) issued yesterday a press release in Nairobi saying that by the end of November its staff treated 2,355 people for the disease in Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei states Рeight times more than for the same period in the previous year.
It added that the kala azar outbreak was made worse by increased levels of malnutrition this year.
In the first ten months of 2010, MSF admitted 13,800 patients with severe malnutrition to its clinics, a 20 percent increase in numbers treated compared to the same time in 2009 and a 50 percent increase compared to all 2008.
MSF warned that healthcare in South Sudan is marred by chronic malnutrition, regular outbreaks of preventable diseases, and insecurity.