MSF and Ministry of Health Inaugurate Rehabilitated Paediatric Unit at Bentiu State Hospital

Bentiu, South Sudan – After months of planning and renovations, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) on Thursday, 31 October 2024 will officially launch the newly rehabilitated paediatric unit at Bentiu State Hospital (BSH), Unity State.  

The 48-bed pediatric unit will offer outpatient and inpatient services ranging from vaccinations, treatment for malaria, general inpatient wards, and support admissions from the emergency department.  

For the past nine years, MSF has been running secondary healthcare services in Bentiu camp for both internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the surrounding host population. These services include an emergency room (ER), surgery, maternity, neonatal and pediatric care, and an adult inpatient department (IPD) with a current capacity of 135-beds.  

MSF has also responded to numerous outbreaks of diseases such as measles, hepatitis E, and malaria in Bentiu, as well as seasonal health crises and surges in patient needs throughout this period. In 2022, MSF handed over the nutritional, HIV/TB, and outpatient department (OPD) programs to capable partner organizations to focus more closely on these remaining critical services. 

In 2023 alone, MSF teams in the facility conducted 45,987 emergency room consultations, treated 4,352 patients with malaria, and admitted 1,277 children into the inpatient therapeutic feeding center (ITFC). Additionally, MSF provided care for 712 expectant mothers, 1,193 surgical cases, 499 deliveries, 495 TB/HIV patients, and 1,504 measles cases. 

This new collaboration with the Ministry of Health is part of MSF’s plan to transition all primary and secondary healthcare services from the Bentiu IDP camp facility to Bentiu State Hospital by 2025. This transition seeks to enhance and maintain healthcare services in Unity State, with MSF and the Ministry of Health collaborating to provide ongoing support to the communities. 

“This is the first step towards a partnership with the State Ministry of Health that will ensure continuity of healthcare provision, as MSF gears up to restore its emergency response capacity,” said James Mutharia, MSF project coordinator for the Bentiu hospital transition. “Our next steps will focus on strengthening the hospital’s ability to provide accessible and entirely free healthcare services to the population as a state facility.” 

By gradually transitioning essential services, MSF seeks to ensure that there is minimal disruption of services during the shift, and for a gradual absorption into the new system of operation in the local healthcare system.  

“We will ensure minimal disruption so that patients can continue accessing medical services smoothly during the transition process. All services provided and supported by MSF will continue to be free of charge, even after the transition is completed,” Mr. Mutharia adds. 

After paediatrics, the maternity, surgical, and emergency room will follow, until all the services are moved to BSH – a process expected to be completed by the end of 2025.