UN agency alarmed by health situation for refugees in S. Sudan

The United Nations refugee agency on Friday sounded alarm about the health situation for some 170,000 refugees spread out across two states in South Sudan, the youngest country in the world. “The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that it is alarmed by the health situation of the 170,000 Sudanese refugees living in camps and settlements across South Sudan’s Unity and Upper Nile states,” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said at a daily news briefing here.These refugees came from Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, fleeing conflict and food shortages there.“Given the rain and cold, the (UN) Agency is seeing refugees suffering from respiratory tract infections, diarrhea and malaria, “ Nesirky noted. “It adds that nearly half of the refugees in Upper Nile are under the age of 11, and it is this group that is suffering the most.”“Their mothers and other caregivers are also often weak and cannot look after them properly,” he added. “This is an unusually large proportion in refugee emergencies, and this age group is suffering the most,” Adrian Edwards, the UNHCR spokesperson, also told reporters in Geneva on Friday.In Yusuf Batil, a camp hosting 34,000 Sudanese from the Blue Nile state, 15 percent of the children under five -- nearly 1,600 in number -- are severely malnourished. They are now being treated under a special health restoration program, said the spokesperson.