Sudan: 200 medical students trained in Lokichokio in the last decade

On 28 February sixteen newly trained Sudanese nursing aides left the ICRC's Lopiding surgical hospital in Lokichokio, northern Kenya, to return to their home-based hospitals and clinics in southern Sudan. Since 1989, when the ICRC launched its programme for nursing aides, around 200 Sudanese have received nursing, physiotherapy and laboratory training at Lopiding hospital.

The students are trained for six months as assistants in the operating theatre, ward nursing, anaesthesia and physiotherapy, or for four months in laboratory techniques. They also receive some basic instruction in the rights and duties of medical personnel during armed conflicts. The students are selected for their personal qualities (e.g. knowledge of English) and professional experience.