Video Update: Saving lives in difficult conditions in South Sudan

Guest post by Kathryn Dunmore, Red Cross Blogger

The ongoing conflict in South Sudan has left thousands in need of medical care; however, many of them risk death as the unstable situation stops them from getting the medical attention they need.

 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reminds the parties to the conflict of their obligation to ensure the injured have access to health facilities and that medical personnel and humanitarian workers can carry out their duties.

 

To treat the increasing number of people injured by the conflict that started in December, the ICRC has deployed several mobile surgical teams of surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses, including Canadians.

 

Working in cooperation with the South Sudan Red Cross, the ICRC has provided clean water to nearly 80,000 people, provided food for nearly 118,000 people, given emergency shelter to more than 24,000 displaced people, provided basic household items for more than 213,000 people and registered 28 children who had become separated from their families. Since the beginning of the conflict, the ICRC has performed more than 1,200 operations.