After 6 years in Juba, WHO’s Abdinasir Abubakar (pictured above) understands better than most the impact war can have on people’s health - from shrapnel wounds and malnutrition to battered and beleaguered hospitals and clinics.

But the impact of the crisis that has raged in the world’s youngest country since late 2013 surpasses anything he saw during the two-decade civil war that tore Sudan in half.

“The emergencies in the past were more localized. There wasn’t as much displacement and less impact on public health,” says Dr Abubakar, a medical officer and epidemiologist. “This conflict is very different. In the past eight months we have seen more fighting spread out over more than half of the country, and many more people displaced. Read more