UNMISS peacekeepers from the Bangladesh Force Marine Unit today offered free basic treatment to residents of Gabur village in Mangalla.

A team of 16 members from the marine unit’s medical team conducted the exercise, during which a total of 411 patients with different diseases were treated and provided with medicine.

Gabur village is situated 55 kilometres away from Juba city and most of the villagers do not have access to health care, due to the absence of a hospital or clinic.

While returning from deployment in Mangalla in February, the Bangladesh Marine Unit received a request from Sudan People’s Liberation Army Engineering Division Commander to assist the local population with health services.

He informed the unit that there were no non-governmental organizations in the area to provide medical treatment.

Responding to the request, the unit organized the medical camp, and attended to hundreds of patients including 128 children, 95 adult females including nine pregnant women and 188 adult males.

The medical team found that many of the patients had various ailments like fever, cough, skin diseases, joint pains, back aches, and abdominal pains caused by peptic ulcers, while many of the children also had diarrhoea, malnutrition, cough and loss of appetite.