In 2019, MSF teams covered rural areas up to 53 kilometers away from Yambio, which was not an easy task due to the limited and poor road network. However, it was worth every effort, as Sara Miro, MSF medical coordinator for South Sudan, explained: “It was exasperating to learn that many people were missing out on medical services due to the long distance to the town and dying of a preventable disease, like malaria.”
Aweil: MSF’s second SMC campaign in South Sudan
Following the successful implementation in Yambio, SMC is now included in South Sudan's new national malaria strategy, and MSF is preparing to launch its second SMC campaign in partnership with the Ministry of Health. The campaign aims to target up to 25,109 children below the age of five, in five monthly rounds in Aweil town in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. Health teams will also conduct malnutrition screening and malaria testing and treatment.
This effort aims to reduce the burden of malaria among young children, as MSF medical teams see an extraordinary number of children with malaria at Aweil State Hospital every year. From 2016 to 2020, MSF teams at the hospital have diagnosed and treated nearly 40,000 children with malaria, including more than 3,000 children under 5 per year with severe malaria.