Strike closes South Darfur health centres

Workers in health centres in Kass locality, South Darfur, entered in an open-ended strike from work since Tuesday, against the non-payment of their salaries. Several centres in camps for internally displaced people have been closed. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, the coordinator of the Kass camps reported that three health centres in the locality have been closed so far, including the nomadic, nutrition, and midwives’ centres. He said that diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea spread amongst the displaced people in the camps. “The health situation has significantly deteriorated owing to the closure of the health centres.” The coordinator appealed to the authorities to solve the problems of the health workers in order to improve the health situation in the locality. One month ago, the coordinator of El Batari camp stressed to Radio Dabanga that the health situation was deteriorating. The accumulation of rainwater in the streets leading up to Kass caused the spread of epidemic diseases amongst children, she said. File photo: A nurse sterilises tools in El Fasher hospital, North Darfur (Albert González Farran/Unamid) Related: ‘Epidemic diseases, food shortages’ in Kass camps, South Darfur (19 September 2014)