Bor, Jonglei State – 17 November 2025
The only referral hospital in Jonglei State remained paralysed as a strike by doctors, nurses and other clinical staff entered its eighth day, resulting in at least two preventable deaths and forcing several pregnant women to give birth in unhygienic conditions outside the facility.
In a strongly worded press statement dated 16 November, the Juba-based non-governmental organisation INTREPID South Sudan (ISS) confirmed that one male and one female patient had died from conditions that could have been treated had the hospital been operational. The organisation also reported that approximately four expectant mothers were compelled to deliver their babies on the hospital grounds or in nearby residences due to the total shutdown of maternity services.
Bor State Hospital, the largest health facility in the Greater Jonglei region, has been closed to in-patients and emergency services since the industrial action began on 9 November 2025. Striking health workers are demanding payment of salary arrears, improved working conditions and the provision of essential drugs and equipment.
To date, no formal agreement has been reached between hospital management and the striking civil servants, leaving thousands of residents without access to critical healthcare.
INTREPID South Sudan has appealed to both parties to return to the negotiating table, describing the continued closure as a “prolonged catastrophe that only increases the suffering of the people.”
“Strike among any other form of civil disobedience is constitutionally protected and it is normal in the state,” the NGO acknowledged, while stressing that solutions must be found urgently and “with respect to the citizens’ civil liberties.”
Local residents who spoke to reporters on Monday expressed growing desperation. “People are dying because of this strike. We understand the doctors are not paid, but the government must do something before more lives are lost,” said Nyaring Akol, a Bor resident whose relative has been turned away from the hospital twice in the past week.
The Jonglei State Ministry of Health could not be reached for comment, but sources within the government indicate that talks facilitated by state authorities collapsed last week over disagreements on the timeline for clearing outstanding salaries.
As the standoff continues, humanitarian agencies in Bor are reporting an increase in emergency referrals to clinics run by international NGOs, many of which are already overstretched.
INTREPID South Sudan says it will continue monitoring the situation “with unreserved solidarity with the patients and the general public.”
The Malakal Press 
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