Dermatologists bring relief to South Sudan patients

NAIROBI — Patients with fungal skin infections in South Sudan are increasingly flocking to the Juba Teaching Hospital, drawn by the expertise of Zheng Jianfeng, a Chinese dermatologist from the 12th batch of the Chinese medical team stationed in the country.

Benson Kocho, a 32-year-old teacher in the capital Juba, is among the patients seeking treatment from Zheng.

With a tumor on his upper lip, Kocho came to the hospital on Nov 8 after local doctors were at a loss regarding his medical condition.

"The tumor started small, but it kept on developing in late September," he told Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday. "It grew so big that I could not close my mouth. It gave me a stigma because everybody was asking me what this was."

Kocho said he was lucky to meet Zheng because the Chinese doctor, with "a true spirit of humanity", sympathized with his condition and performed an operation the same day.

Following the successful operation with the laser machine introduced last year by the Chinese medical team, Kocho is now relieved and no longer bothered by the concerns of his students and onlookers.

"The wound is recovering well, and I have come to see the doctor to receive my routine medicine," he said.

Zheng treats about 60 patients daily, and with such a packed schedule, he sometimes has to sacrifice his breaks.

Madaya Hassan, a Sudanese national who fled the current conflict and arrived in Juba a year ago with her family, said the team of Chinese dermatologists has been kind enough to treat her son Sadiq Al-Amin, who has been suffering from chronic eczema for about eight years.

"I tried to seek medication but could not find it," she said. "Some people advised me to bring my child to the Chinese doctors. When we came here for the first time in July, my son was given medicine and the child recovered."

Joseph Kenyi Okumu, an assistant dermatologist who works with Zheng, said Chinese doctors are very dedicated and professional, adding that they have treated patients with common fungal skin diseases such as scabies, tinea, eczema and chronic dermatitis, as well as diseases such as cutaneous larva migrans that occur mostly during the rainy season.

"We are giving free medication because the patients coming to us cannot afford medication outside this hospital," Kenyi said.

Xinhua