Pneumonia cases on the rise in Jonglei State

At least 25 children suffering from pneumonia were admitted to Bor State Hospital, authorities in Nyirol County, Jonglei State, said.

Tiwtiw Kuon Nyankoach, County Health Director in Nyirol, said though cases of malaria were low, respiratory-related diseases are the most commonly registered at the hospital.

“There are 25 children admitted at the hospital since last week, and this morning about 18 children were discharged from the wards.” 

However, the children who are not discharged don’t have a severe case, but they are still in bed,” Tiwtiw said.

“The parents are urged to take care of the children during the wet season to always wear clothes on them and not allow them to play in the rain.

“The children should be covered well during the night to lower the number of children getting sick with pneumonia,” he stated.

Nyankoach said some health facilities that were established by Save the Children are slowly shutting down due to a lack of funding.

“I am engaging the health partners to help boost those facilities that are shutting down. There are over 200 households in far populated villages that do not have access to health care such Panding village and other Payams,” he said.

According to UNICEF’s 2019 global estimation, pneumonia claimed the lives of more than 800,000 children under the age of five, or one child every 39 seconds.

Most deaths occurred among children under the age of two, and almost 153,000 within the first month of life.