Medical and international warnings of cholera spread in southern Sudan
Agencies – Geneva:
Children’s Salvation Authority said that eight people with cholera in southern Sudan, including five children, died while walking for three hours to obtain medical treatment after the US aid was forced to reduce local health services to finish their work. The deaths occurred last month, which is among the first cases that are directly attributed to reducing the aid imposed by US President Donald Trump after assuming his post on January 20. The US administration said it has froze aid to review whether the grants were in line with the “America First” policy.
Experts warned that the cuts – including canceling more than 90 percent of the US Agency for International Development – may lead to millions of millions in the coming years due to malnutrition, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.
The US State Department stated that it has no information on the deaths that the commission had reported. A ministry spokesman stated that many US government programs that provide life -saving aid in South Sudan are still in place, but supporting medical services were also used to enrich the country’s leaders. “While the emergency programs for life continues, we will not ask American taxpayers, in good faith, to actually support the irresponsible and corrupt behavior of political leaders in South Sudan,” the spokesman added. UN official: Trump’s decision to freeze aid threatens the lives of millions of injured people, and the Children’s Salvation Authority said in a statement that the organization was supporting 27 health facilities in Jonglei State in eastern southern Sudan until the time earlier this year when the US discounts forced seven facilities to close and 20 others partially closed.
