JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN - JULY 19: Patients sleep on the floor of the out patient department waiting for their malaria test results at the Juba Teaching hospital which has a shortage of beds July 19, 2012 in Juba, South Sudan. South Sudan recently celebrated it's first anniversary of independence from Sudan. Repeated conflict with North Sudan, corruption scandals and economic difficulties have plagued the new country over the past year. Further problems caused by the shutdown of its oil production have led to a sharp decline in its currency and a rise in the price of food and fuel. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
University of Juba vice Chancellor Professor John Akech has appealed to President Kiir to hand over Juba Teaching Hospital to his management.
Akech wrote a post calling the hospital, a graveyard.
“As things stand, Juba Teaching Hospital is a graveyard for the desperate patients, as opposed to a place of healing and recovery,” Akech wrote.
He further appealed to President Kiir to him the authority to manage the hospital.
“Open Apeal to the President: Kindly put Juba Teaching Hospital under the management of the University of Juba in order to save thousands of our citizens lives,” he added.
Juba Teaching Hospital (JTH), a 580-bed facility located in Juba City, is the only referral hospital in the whole country of South Sudan with an estimated population of 10.16 million. With lack of proper functioning primary health care facilities upcountry, many South Sudanese have nowhere to go to but this national referral hospital.
Juba Teaching Hospital is directly funded by the central government through the National Ministry of Health, and supported by RMF, UN agencies and other NGOs. However, with support from UN agencies and NGOs, the hospital is still not well equipped and lacking basic medical supplies and equipment as well as human resources to deliver quality healthcare services to the people.
