Conflict and disease put a strain on South Sudan's fragile healthcare system

Humanitarian actors worry that conflict, disease and other crises in South Sudan are putting a heavy strain on the country’s healthcare system, one of the weakest in the world according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Escalating violence in Upper Nile State has displaced tens of thousands of people, and is making access to medical care more difficult for populations in rural areas. 

South Sudan is also battling a cholera outbreak, with 919 deaths out of almost 50,000 cases reported between September 2024 and April 2025. 

"South Sudan is experiencing a lot of challenges, disease outbreaks, we have flooding, we have displacement and now we have the clashes happening in Upper Nile. And all these are leading to increased needs, increased demands for medical activities and medical services", said Zakariya Mwatia, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) head of mission in South Sudan.

The country also wrestles with high child and maternal mortality rates.  

Health officials especially warn of a rise in obstetric fistulas, a childbirth complication that is directly linked to obstructed labour, one of the main causes of maternal mortality.

South Sudan has an "estimated backlog of 60,000 cases [of obstetric fistulas] waiting for surgical repair", according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

"When you have cholera, it's pointing out that there are things that are not going well. When you have fistulas, it's pointing out that there are things that are not going well", said Dr Anthony Lupai, Director General of Juba Teaching Hospital.

"You may have health centres, you may have health workers, but when people are not stable to reach those health centres, then they may end up developing fistulas", he added. 

Babies die in 90% of obstetric fistula cases, according to the UN.

Doctors Without Borders found that two thirds of South Sudan’s healthcare facilities were nonfunctional in 2023. 

The UNs' Emergency Fund released an urgent aid of $10 million on Thursday, to help vulnerable communities affected by the multiple crises in the country.