KidsOR training first ever paediatric surgeons in South Sudan

KidsOR are delighted to be supporting two scholars, Dr. Betty Arkangalo Yuggu Phillimona and Dr Bidali James Sebit Nzira, who, following the completion of their training, will become South Sudan's first ever paediatric surgeons.

Despite being a country of 11,000,000, over half of whom are children, South Sudan lacks a single paediatric surgeon. This is reflected in the fact the country has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world (58.6 per 1000 live births) and an alarmingly high under-5 mortality rate (89.8 / 1000).

Kids Operating Room are training these scholars as part of a longer-term plan to train four paediatric surgeons in the country. All four surgeons will be trained at Baylor College of Medicine in Lilongwe, Malawi under Dr. Bip Nandi, before returning to work at the first dedicated OR for children, within Al Saba Children’s Hospital, Juba.

Since 2018, KidsOR have worked with a number of partners to both fund the scholarships programme and to develop the infrastructure and networks needed to train Paediatric Surgeons across Africa. We're incredibly grateful to both The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh & Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow who, together, have united to help us strengthen the country's health systems by part-funding our surgical scholarship programme in South Sudan.

Recent Posts