Medair has now completed construction of a permanent PHCC that will provide access to a wide range of health services for up to 50,000 vulnerable Sudanese.

In March of 2007, Medair opened a temporary PHCC in Melut Town, in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and local community authorities. Large tents were set up, and over the course of 34 weeks, 13,000 patients were seen and treated.

During this time, Medair worked with local labourers and a construction firm to build a permanent PHCC, which will now be staffed with eight support staff and 12 health professionals, including Clinical Officers, Community Health Workers, and Nurse Midwives. "It is great that we are in the position to open this Primary Health Care Centre in Melut," said Medair's Country Director, Klaas van Mill. "The need for provision of the basic health services in this area continues to be high. Our temporary clinic was kept very busy, and with the opening of this building, services will be improved even further."

The formal opening ceremony will take place on 14 November at 2 pm, and will be attended by local dignitaries, government representatives, and area residents.

"It's so nice to have Medair here with us in Melut," said Mary, one of the clinic's patients. "There's good hygiene advice and encouragement. Also, there's no division, and all people are treated equally with love."

While the peace agreement has brought hope to the country's devastated south, a better future is far from guaranteed for most of the region's inhabitants. Chronic underdevelopment combined with continuing tensions in Upper Nile state suggest that even if the new peace does hold, it will require a persistent and widespread effort to improve both living conditions and the provision of basic services.

"This new Primary Health Care Centre has been built so that mothers can deliver their babies safely, children can get vaccines, and all ages can receive essential medicines and learn how to prevent future illness," said Medair's Dr. Hannah Evans. "A healthy community is a good foundation for the future, and we are privileged to be a part of building this future for the people we work alongside in Melut County."

Medair would like to thank those that have contributed to the development of this PHCC, with a special mention to the local and state governments, the MoH, SSRRC, and donors BSF/DFID and CHF.

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Medair is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), with its operational headquarters located in Switzerland. Its Relief & Rehabilitation programmes in Southern Sudan have been running since 1992.

In Southern Sudan, Medair provides emergency medical and water assistance for outbreaks, large people movements, and nutritional emergencies in a number of locations across the region as well as improving access to primary health care and safe water sources in Upper Nile. In the northern states, Medair provides access to primary health care and water and sanitation for up to 210,000 conflict-affected persons in West Darfur; works with war-displaced people in Khartoum; and supports access to primary health care in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.

Medair's work in Southern Sudan is currently supported with the assistance of UNICEF, BSF (DFID - British Government and Worldbank), BUZA (Dutch Government), SDC/DDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), The Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), ERF (Emergency Response Fund/UNDP administrated by OCHA) and CHF (the United Nation 'Common Humanitarian Fund for Sudan) and private donors.

Medair's life-saving activities are also dependent upon private financial support. To contribute to this work, please go to www.medair.org/donate (Southern Sudan section.)