AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN - A simple ambulance service can save the lives of hundreds of mothers and children

Juba (Agenzia Fides) - In South Sudan, 90% of women give birth at home. In situations of complications related to childbirth, it is necessary to intervene with an emergency service. A network of mobile phones, an always active ambulance service, the continued availability of quality health services in the hospital by a committed staff, although extremely small, have allowed the hospital in Yirol, in the State Lakes, to increase the number of births - 100% in three years, from 2011 to 2014, reaching 1,461. This is thanks to the partnership between the Italian NGO, Doctors with Africa Cuamm and the Ministry of Health, with the support of the Health Pooled Fund (HPF), fund backed by the governments of Britain, Australia, Canada, Sweden and the European Union with special focus on maternal and child health in South Sudan. In the district of Yirol West, Lakes State, a note sent to Agenzia Fides by CUAMM highlights that potholed roads and floodings during the rainy season makes the simplest of movements towards the hospital in the county almost impossible. An ambulance service and a handful of committed staff beats bad roads and saves mothers’ lives. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 26/02/2015)