A health advocate has raised urgent concerns over a worsening health crisis in Duk Padiet, Jonglei State where malaria and cholera are claiming lives amid the collapse of the community’s Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC).
The Padiet PHCC has remained non-functional since June 30,
2025, following the withdrawal of the John Dau Foundation (JDF), which had been
operating the facility since September 2024.
According to Dr. Africana Arak Simon, Health Officer of the
John Dau Foundation, the foundation withdrew due to funding cuts from USAID,
leaving thousands of residents without access to essential medical services.
“Padiet Payam [Padiet Centre] has the highest population in
great Padiet that requires a hospital not even a PHCC but now nothing,” Simon
said.
Patients report resorting to traditional herbs as medicines
run out, while volunteers at the PHCC are often unable to provide assistance.
"Once you come to the Health Facility and you luckily
get one volunteer, he/she will just write for you on a piece of paper and ask
you to go to the private clinics,” said one patient.
Sarah Adit, a traditional birth attendant who continues to
work at the facility, said that three to four mothers deliver at the PHCC every
day without access to critical medicines such as oxytocin or misoprostol, which
increases the risk of postpartum hemorrhage.
“Not even IV fluid is available in the maternity,” Adit said.
Health advocate Dr. Simon has appealed to the Ministry of
Health and its partners to urgently prioritize the Padiet PHCC, stressing that
any delay could worsen the spread of malaria and cholera.
“I would like to appeal to the SMOH and its Partners to
prioritise this Health Facility serving a huge population in case of any
Emergency response,” he appealed.
Simon also urged local residents and diaspora communities to
support the facility in order to save lives.
“To the sons and daughters of Duk, your voters are
varnishing and remember 2026 is coming, contribute a dollar and save your votes,”
he said.
“A full dose of Coartem or Artesunate/Amodiaquine is 2
dollars in the market,calculate how many lives your 100 dollars will save!”
The crisis in Duk Padiet highlight the broader challenges facing South Sudan’s healthcare system, where funding gaps and inadequate infrastructure leave communities vulnerable to preventable diseases.
