The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said on Tuesday the health situation in South Sudan’s refugee camps had become the agency’s main priority as conditions continued to worsen under the strain of continuing large refugee inflows and flooding from torrential rains.
UNHCR spokesman, Adrian Edwards said the agency is watching closely for possible outbreaks of diseases.He added that UNHCR and other health organizations are undertaking a mass health screening to obtain better data on mortality rates and vaccination coverage rates across all refugee in Upper Nile and Unity states.
Edwards said massive health outreach and intensive hygiene and sanitation programmes are needed to mitigate the threats to the health of refugees.
The spokesman said the most critical challenge for the agency and all partners is to provide enough clean water for all refugees and prevent diseases in this remote and fragile part of South Sudan.
UNHCR repealed for Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia and South Sudan amounts to 220 million US dollars but had received US45.9 million US dollars (US11.6 million US dollars for Ethiopia and US33.6 million US dollars for South Sudan), representing less than 21 per cent of estimated needs.
Ê