(JUBA) – Rising economic pressure, irregular salary payments, and sharp increases in market prices are driving a surge in both child and adult malnutrition in Juba, according to the head of the Nutrition Unit at Al Sabah Children’s Hospital.
Betty Ashan Ochieng said the hospital is now receiving close to 100 malnourished children every month, a number she described as alarming for an urban facility. She explained that many of the children arriving at the hospital show visible signs of severe undernourishment, including swelling associated with oedema. She added that growing numbers of parents are also showing signs of malnutrition.
She said most of the cases come from the outskirts of the city, where families are under pressure due to the rising cost of living. Many households now rely on very limited diets, sometimes eating the same food repeatedly for long periods. According to Ochieng, it is now increasingly common to find two or three children from the same family suffering from malnutrition at the same time, often along with one or both parents.
“We are seeing many children coming from the outskirts. Most of them are swollen, medically that is oedema,” Ochieng said. “They are lacking food or eating the same food repeatedly. You find two or three children in one family malnourished at the same time, plus the parents. What does that say? There is already a problem in that family.”
She added that the nutrition crisis is linked to long gaps in salary payments for many public workers and to Juba’s dependence on cash for daily survival, unlike rural areas where families can grow food.
“If the mother and father are malnourished, what about the children? People are not paid for long periods, and in Juba we depend on money. We have no gardens,” she said.
Health workers say urban families remain especially vulnerable because very few have access to land for cultivation, and the price of basic goods has continued to rise with inflation. Civil servants and low income workers have said that irregular pay has pushed them deeper into debt, reducing their ability to buy nutritious food.
Al Sabah Children’s Hospital is one of the main referral points for nutrition cases in Juba, and doctors say the current trend suggests that the number of severe cases may continue to increase unless economic conditions improve.
The rise in malnutrition among adults alongside children also signals a deeper food access problem, according to medical staff. They warn that without stable income and access to affordable food, families will continue to face high health risks.
Juba Hospital Reports Sharp Rise in Child Hunger
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Main Concern | Sharp increase in child and adult malnutrition in Juba |
| Hospital | Al Sabah Children’s Hospital, Juba County |
| Monthly Admissions | Nearly 100 malnourished children |
| Key Symptoms | Oedema and severe undernourishment |
| Main Causes | Salary delays, high food prices, lack of access to gardens |
| Affected Groups | Children, parents, and low income households |
| Expert Comment | Many entire families now showing signs of malnutrition |
