South Sudan has only 4 ventilators & 24 ICU beds for 12 million people

COVID-19 cases have risen to 2.4 million globally and countries around the world are facing a shortage of life-saving equipment as the coronavirus pandemic places unprecedented demand on hospitals.

According to a report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), South Sudan has only 4 ventilators and 24 ICU beds for 12 million people. It means they have one ventilator for every three million people. 

Burkina Faso has 11 ventilators, Sierra Leone 13, and Central African Republic 3, while Venezuela has 84 ICU beds for a population of 32 million, and 90% of hospitals face shortages of medicine and critical supplies, the non-governmental organization says.

“We’ve already seen how the pandemic has quickly overwhelmed health systems in countries with relatively advanced health systems,” Elinor Raikes, vice president and head of program delivery for IRC told CNN. “There’s already immediate cause for concern about how it would quickly overwhelm countries with weaker health systems.”

The same report cited a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) that there are around 2,000 ventilators in 41 countries in continental Africa.