South Sudan has only three psychiatrists

Indeed, South Sudan has only three psychiatrists

Claim: South Sudan has three psychiatrists

Verdict: Checked

Source: UNICEF (a tweet by Radio Miraya) 

South Sudan has only three psychiatrists, the ministry of health has confirmed. 

“South Sudan has only 3 psychiatrists for the whole population. @unicefssudan is working with the #SouthSudan government to train social workers to bridge that dangerous gap – Abraham Deng and Helene Ryeng @unicefssudan #SouthSudan #SSOT” according to a tweet by Radio Miraya published on 16th of February. 

The above tweet caused huge controversies online, with many users saying the country has more psychiatrists, while others relied behind the information posted by Radio Miraya. 

When fact checked by 211 Check, the Ministry of Health spokesperson – Dr. Loi Thou admitted that the country has three psychartrists.

“Yes, it is true there are three (3) psychiatrists, they are senior specialists but there are also other categories like the junior psychiatrist, social workers, and people who are doing psycho-social support. There are many but the specialists are three” said Dr. Loi.

Previous Reports

The BBC reported on 30^th October 2014 that “In South Sudan, a country of some 11 million people, there are only two trained psychiatrists”.

The Aljazeera reported on 18^th January 2019 that “Only three psychiatrist practice in war torn South Sudan, where many people believe in supernatural possession”.