Review of neurology specialist visits to Southern Darfur

Abstract

PURPOSE: This article is aimed at describing activities and ndings of westerntrained medical specialist visits to Nyala, the capital of Southern Darfur. This remote part of western Sudan is home for many internally displaced people (IDP) following well-known armed con icts, and is a major nancial centre and marketplace in Darfur. Cities and towns in Darfur are over populated, causing an increasing burden on under-resourced and underfunded health services. Activities of these medical missions include provision of specialist medical services and assessment of the existing infrastructure for any possible future development of local health services tailored to the speci c areas explored. STUDY DESIGN: A local healthcare provider planned an ongoing healthcare programme called Visiting Specialist. It was developed and sponsored by the Southern Darfur Branch of National Health Insurance Fund to help people of this remote and deprived region of Darfur. The programme was inspired by the dif culties endured by patients travelling a very long distance to the capital Khartoum at very high costs. Implementation of this seemingly popular healthcare programme narrowed the technical medical sub-speciality and healthcare gaps. These visits are meant to be bridges of communication extended from the centre transferring services closer to people's homes at the peripheries.