A mother holds her baby as a member of Doctors Without Borders staff measures the child’s level of nutrition in her house near the village of Kuom. South Sudan, 2021. © Adrienne Surprenant/Item
Most children are dying in their homes and villages. They never make it to hospitals that are far away. And we don’t actually know how many of these children there are.Bowa Malou Wol, Nurse
This is particularly striking given the fact that the existing healthcare infrastructure already operates under immense pressure. The Doctors Without Borders-supported Aweil State Hospital is a case in point. It is the only facility currently providing comprehensive health services to an estimated 1.2 million people in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.
Malaria is transmitted throughout the year but it peaks during the rainy season from about July to November. In these months, thousands of children suffer from malaria across the region and must be promptly tested and treated with antimalarial medications to reduce the risk of developing severe malaria, which can be fatal or cause serious complications.
Those who develop severe malaria require urgent hospital care—putting an enormous strain on Aweil State Hospital.
We experienced massive spikes in the number of patients this rainy season. We had almost 300 people in our section of the hospital which normally has 150 beds. Most of them suffer from malaria. And honestly, we are running out of places where to put them. Even though we have built new malaria tents to increase capacity, it is still not enough. Some have to sleep in hallways because there is just no room anywhere else. Our medical staff, especially nurses, are overstretched.Aminu Lawal, Medical Activity Manager
So far this year, the medical team at Aweil State Hospital has admitted more than 4,000 children with malaria and treated more than 25,000 children on an outpatient basis. These figures are higher than in 2020 or 2019, Lawal says, which may be due to gaps in medical care at the local level. The region's local health facilities rely on international support for antimalarial medications and tests, and these were in short supply during the peak malaria season. Some health facilities lost external support entirely and are no longer functioning.
In Aweil State Hospital, the situation has already resulted in critical shortages of blood for transfusions. Patients with severe malaria often develop anemia, and safe, adequately stocked blood banks are therefore a necessity. Teams at the hospital must administer hundreds of blood transfusions per month during the rainy season, but blood supplies are often difficult to come by in South Sudan. Blood is typically only donated by a patient's relatives.
A girl walks through a flooded area on her way home near Aweil Town. South Sudan, 2021. © Adrienne Surprenant/Item
"Blood for transfusions is critically missing. One of the problems is that families rarely own phones and we can’t reach out to relatives when blood donation is needed. This is what truly leaves us incapable of treating many severe cases of malaria—sometimes with fatal consequences," explains Lawal.
Widespread flooding exacerbated the malaria crisis this year, as large pools of stagnant water provided perfect breeding ground for mosquitos which then spread the disease. The floodwaters also made it more difficult for health workers to reach remote areas and for patients to reach health facilities.
Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention: A Way Forward
This year, Doctors Without Borders launched a pilot program to prevent malaria in Aweil, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. It is called seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) and its purpose is to prevent infection and serious illness among those most at risk—children from 3 to 59 months—by providing them with preventive antimalarial medications once a month for five months during the rainy season. Health workers also conduct nutrition screening so children with malnutrition can be identified and treated promptly, as malaria can be particularly deadly among children suffering from malnutrition.
So far Doctors Without Borders teams reached nearly 14,000 children under five and the overall response from the community has been very positive.
Ateny Mayen Akoi holds her eight-month-old daughter Agel after she received Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) drugs at a distribution site set up in the village of Kuom. South Sudan, 2021. © Adrienne Surprenant/Item
"I am happy the program is here. Prevention is important. I have six children and two of them are younger than five. Now they can be protected. Malaria is bad every year and now is the first time drugs for its prevention are available to us," said Ateny Mayen Akoi after her eight-month-old daughter Agel received SMC medications at a distribution site in the village of Kuom.
Improving the prevention of malaria is an urgent task, and multiple interventions are needed in combination, Doctors Without Borders staff say.
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention is an important tool that has already been used successfully in countries of West and Central Africa that also have high transmission of malaria. It is essential to find the best combination of approaches to reduce malaria's devastating impact on young children, which is why we are carefully piloting this effort in South Sudan.Saschveen Singh,Infect. Diseases Advisor
Lawal notes that preventing malaria is cheaper and often easier than treating malaria.
"SMC certainly is effective," Lawal says. "However, we also have to remember that SMC isn’t the only form of prevention. Distribution of mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying with insecticides or ensuring sanitation of stagnant water are all measures that have an important role to play. There is no one silver bullet."
Doctors Without Borders first began working in Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, in 1987, assisting the local hospital. Today we offer paediatric and maternal healthcare throughout the year at Aweil state hospital, which serves around 1.2 million people. Our services include an inpatient feeding centre for malnourished children, a paediatric and neo-natal ward, intensive care unit and emergency room, a maternity with treatment of basic and complicated obstetric care, as well as malaria treatment with rapid diagnostic tests, medication and supervision at the hospital and in primary healthcare centres during malaria peak.
