MENTOR recently completed an emergency Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) campaign in camps and settlements in Renk, South Sudan, helping to protect over 75,000 people from malaria.
MENTOR’s IRS campaign started with three days of training for all workers. The teams then sprayed 8,590 shelters and houses in and around Renk Town, where thousands of refugees from Sudan and returning South Sudanese nationals have settled.
Malaria is the most urgent concern for health facilities here because of the high number of mosquito breeding sites caused by a prolonged rainy season. Poor living conditions, inadequate shelters and lowered immunity to malaria further increases the risk of diseases.
Over 20,000 people are living in the Renk Transit Centre which was meant for between 2,000 to 5,000 people. More than 20,000 people have also settled in Renk Town. Most people that arrive here are women, children and older people.
Over 415,000 people have crossed the border from Sudan (as of 29 November) since the start of the conflict in April 2023. Reports of fighting in Sudan spreading to the Kordofan and White Nile States could lead to even more people moving into South Sudan, adding to the growing humanitarian crisis. MENTOR will also distribute more than 40,000 long-lasting insecticidal treated nets to all refugees and returnees entering the country from Sudan from the beginning of January.
The emergency programme in South Sudan is supported by The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).