The John Dau Foundation's Duk Lost Boys Clinic in South Sudan.
Skaneateles, NY (PRWEB) November 13, 2013
The John Dau Foundation’s Duk Lost Boys Clinic announces October statistics that reflect its work providing primary health care in South Sudan.
During October, 2013, the clinic provided healthcare and nutrition services to 1,567 patients including (but not limited to) 119 vaccinations, 135 prenatal visits, and treatment for:
- 207 presumed and 23 confirmed cases of malaria
- 87 cases of gastroenteritis
- 214 cases of pneumonia and other respiratory diseases
- 132 cases of urinary tract infections
- 87 sexually transmitted infections
- 76 cases of typhoid
- 45 cases of brucellosis
- 273 cases of malnutrition
According to a recent Sudan Tribune article, “Less than 50 percent of the South Sudanese populations have access to health care services, an indication the country has one of the lowest health pointers in the world, statistics show.”
According to reported statistics, the young nation has only “1.5 medical doctors and two nurses for every 100,000 patients, far below the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended standard of 250 health workers per 100,000 people.”
South Sudan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, estimated at 2,054 per 100,000 live births according to statistics from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). Infant mortality rate is reportedly at 105 per 1,000 children born alive, with pneumonia, diarrheal diseases and malnutrition cited as major causes.
About the John Dau Foundation and Duk Lost Boys Clinic
The mission of the John Dau Foundation (JDF) is to build and sustain medical clinics and train community health workers in South Sudan. Its first clinic, the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, was established in May of 2007. The clinic is located in Duk Payuel, a village in Duk County, Jonglei State, South Sudan. Tens of thousands of people in the region have been disrupted and displaced by conflict and face hunger, malnutrition, and a scarcity of health care.
Since opening, the Duk Lost Boys Clinic has come to lead the coordination of medical services within Duk County and serves as a model for success for the entire region. More than 110,000 patients have received life-saving nutrition and medical care at the clinic, whose staff sees typically between 75-150 patients per day. Some walk more than 30 miles in order to receive health services. More than 2,000 expectant mothers have received pre-natal care at the clinic, in a country where maternal and child mortality rates are among the highest in the world.
Key humanitarian partners of the clinic also involved in addressing the overall humanitarian emergency in the region include IMA World Health, the World Food Program, and UNICEF. For more information about the foundation and clinic, and to learn how to help, visit http://www.JohnDauFoundation.org.
About John Dau and the Lost Boys of Sudan
The John Dau Foundation was begun by former Lost Boy and genocide survivor John Dau to provide healthcare in the war-torn region of South Sudan, where people’s lives and homelands have been disrupted for decades as a result of civil war and continued upheaval and tribal fighting. The term “Lost Boys of Sudan” refers to the more than 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced and orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War.
About 2.5 million people were killed and millions were displaced. The orphaned girls among these groups of displaced children typically were placed with surviving families and also faced life-threatening challenges and disrupted lives.
For more background on the story of the lost children of South Sudan, which features John Dau and his relocation to Syracuse, NY, watch the award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us. Also see Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan, a memoir written by John Dau and his wife Martha Akech.