Sudan: UN starts project for health care for 242,000

By Adel Abdul Rahim

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday announced the launch of a project to provide health care to roughly 242,000 people in the war-torn Darfur state of western Sudan.

The UN agency explained that the project comes in order to bridge the health gap in nine villages in the East Jebel Mara locality at an estimated cost of $1.6 million.

WHO launched the one-year-project in May, co-funded by the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Fund, according to a report released by the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs on Monday.

The UN said that the project is working on the rehabilitation and processing of five health clinics, and providing support for four others, as well as purchases of medicines and medical supplies.

According to the same report, some 221,000 patients benefit directly from the clinic project through the access of medical services for treatment and the provision of essential medicines, while 12,000 people benefit from health promotion services, exercise, and the prevention of infectious diseases.

Last September, the UN was able to enter the East Jebel Mara locality for the first time, an area where 105,000 people need humanitarian assistance.

Darfur has been the scene of a ferocious war between the Sudanese government and three rebel movements since 2003. The conflict has left 300,000 people dead and around 2.5 million others displaced, according to UN figures.

The Sudanese government for its part rejects these figures, saying the death toll in the war-weary Sudanese state does not exceed 10,000 people .