South Sudan: a young country's fight against COVID-19.
South Sudan: a young country's fight against COVID-19.
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DOI：
10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.37.49.27327
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发表时间：
2020
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Lucero-Prisno DE
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Dinyo DGA;Ahmadi A;Okereke M;Essar MY;Lucero-Prisno DE
COVID-19是一种高度传染性的疾病，已开始蔓延到包括南苏丹在内的非洲国家。在确认最初几例病例后，政府颁布了预防措施，以遏制社区传播。然而，严峻的挑战阻碍了这些预防措施。就在该国从苏丹独立两年后，国内冲突爆发，并继续使脆弱的医疗保健系统负担过重并受到破坏。冲突造成保健服务中断、保健设施被毁、保健工作者死亡和移徙、大批人流离失所。在该国努力应对这一流行病的同时，这种情况仍在继续。其他有关问题包括：COVID-19检测能力不足，医疗和个人防护设备有限，卫生工作者人数不足，使该国在抗击大流行病方面装备不足。由于贫困率高和社会耻辱，公众不遵守COVID-19预防方案，加剧了病毒的传播。南苏丹目前的局势表明，交战各方需要立即停火，以便现有的卫生服务，包括COVID-19工作，不受干扰，以确保所有人的安全。政府需要与国际卫生盟友合作，进一步建设卫生部门的能力，以便能够为公民提供他们所需的卫生服务。
COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease that has started to creep into African countries including South Sudan. Following confirmation of the first few cases, the government enacted preventive measures to curb community transmission. However, daunting challenges deter these precautionary measures. Just after two years the country took its independence from Sudan, civil conflicts sparked and continue to overburden and undermine the fragile healthcare system. The conflicts have caused disruption of health services, destruction of health facilities, death and migration of health workers, displacements of a huge number of people. This scenario continues while the country is grappling with the pandemic. Other concerning issues include: insufficient COVID-19 testing capacity, limited medical and personal protective equipment and an inadequate number of health workers which leave the country ill-equipped in the battle against the pandemic. Non-compliance of COVID-19 prevention protocols by the general public due to high rate of poverty and social stigma contribute to the spread of the virus. The current situation in South Sudan make evident that there is a need for an immediate ceasefire by the warring sides so the available health services including COVID-19 efforts, are not disrupted to ensure the safety of all. The government needs to further build the capacity of its health sector with the cooperation of its international health allies to be able to provide its citizens with the health services they need.