South Sudan News

In an effort to protect people at risk of bilharzia in South Sudan, the Ministry of Health, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), conducted mass drug administration in four counties.

The aim was to interrupt transmission and protect school-aged children and adults at risk of infection in moderate to high-risk areas of South Sudan.

Bilharzia is a significant public health problem in many countries, and preventive chemotherapy has been demonstrated to benefit affected communities. However, it is still not readily accessible by all.

The Ministry of Health in South Sudan, working in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), has successfully trained 128 healthcare workers from major private health facilities on the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy and reporting tools in Juba.

Mrs Nyanaath Gatleel Luoy, a 29-year-old mother of three, and her fellow villagers have been struggling to access healthcare services due to the long distance they need to walk to reach the medical center in Leer, which is several kilometers away.

"I had to walk 10 kilometers from our village in Kai Gai to seek treatment for my children in Leer hospital when they are sick because roads are sometimes impassable," said Mrs Luoy

The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Water and Irrigation and partners, trained healthcare workers to build the country's capacity to plan, implement and conduct simulation exercises, including full-scale simulation exercise to improve preparedness and response to public health events.

Mary Ukuach Deng, 34 years old and her three little children on a Tuesday morning awoke to a rattling sound of gunshots at her residence of Hai Mayo in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. It began a long rough journey to safety for Deng with her family. Deng, among others, was forced to flee to her country of origin, South Sudan, by the intense fighting in Khartoum.

With the theme The Big Catch Up, South Sudan joined the rest of the countries in Africa Region to celebrate the 2023 African Vaccination Week (AVW) from 24 to 30 April 2023.

This initiative is led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and implemented by countries in the region to promote the use of vaccines and highlight the collective action needed to protect people of all ages against vaccine preventable diseases.

With the theme “Together let’s End Malaria in South Sudan”, South Sudan joined the rest of the countries in the world to celebrate the 2023 World Malaria Day with calls for robust multisectoral actions to reduce malaria morbidity by 80 percent in 2025 as outlined in the 2021-2025 South Sudan Malaria Strategic Plan.

• The measles campaign aims to vaccinate more than 2.7 million children against the highly infectious disease, and is integrated with efforts to deliver Vitamin A supplementation and deworming.
• Between January 2022 and 1 February 2023, health authorities in South Sudan reported an outbreak of measles, with over 4,000 suspected cases and 46 deaths across the country
• The campaign will use a combination of fixed and outreach vaccination sites, with a focus on reaching under or unvaccinated children aged between 6-59 months in hard-to-reach areas.