South Sudan News

Juba 27 August 2018 – The Ministry of Health of South Sudan in collaboration with the Health Sector Partners (HSP) and with technical leadership and support from the World Health Organization has validated its 2007 Essential Medicines List.  

This is part of the efforts to improve access to, availability and proper use of essential medicines within the health care system in public and private facilities. 

Juba 9 August, 2018 – The Ministry of Health of the Republic of South Sudan with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners convened a three-day meeting to develop a five-year national action plan for health security (2018-2022). 

Juba 26 July, 2018 – In an effort to implement the recommendations of the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) for International Health Regulations (2005) conducted in 2017, the Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization and other partners developed a roadmap to improve its capacity to prevent, detect, confirm, and rapidly respond to public health risks and emergencies. 

Juba 13 July, 2018 – The Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization is building capacity to strengthen surveillance mechanism for adverse events following immunization (AEFI). 

Juba, 23 July 2018 – South Sudan detected three new Guinea worm cases in Rumbek North and Rumbek Center Counties of former Lakes State in 2018.

The three victim’s two female teenagers and 25-year-old man are cattle keepers and are now receiving treatment at Rumbek-Guinea Worm hub.

Juba 20 July, 2018 – With support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health convened a one day high-level advocacy meeting to define strategic funding priorities for health sector.

During the meeting key donors and other international and national health partners including UN agencies discussed on key programmatic and funding priorities including aligning investments, coordinating operations, identifying synergies and capitalize on potential efficiencies from joint operations.

Juba, 19 July 2018 – To mitigate the risk of cholera outbreaks in cholera transmission hotspots in South Sudan, the World Health Organization (WHO) secured over 562 000 doses of  oral cholera vaccine in 2018  to conduct pre-emptive campaigns.

The  466 460  doses of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) received from the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) in 2018 are  for a 2-dose mass vaccination campaign in Torit, Yirol East, Yirol West and Panyijiar. 

Juba, 17 July 2018 – To ensure maintenance critical immunization system functions and prevent the collapse following the ramp down of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) support, the Ministry of Health with support from WHO held a one-day meeting with key donors and other stakeholders including UNICEF.

Juba 6 July, 2018 – South Sudan is prone to emerging and re-emerging disease outbreaks which necessitate prompt and safe management of laboratory specimens to ensure accurate and timely confirmation of the causative agent such as Ebola Virus to guide the response. 

However, the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of IHR (2005) core capacities for South Sudan conducted in 2017, revealed that capacity for biosafety and biosecurity needed strengthening and the gaps identified addressed.

Juba 2 July, 2018 – In South Sudan, it is estimated that 7.1 million people are food insecure; and it is expected that more than one million under five years to be suffering from acute malnutrition in 2018. 
 

According to the UNICEF/WHO Countdown Report 2017, among children aged 6 – 59 months, 31% are stunted, and 28% are wasted. Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates vary seasonally and substantially across states; with peaks of up to 30 % in some locations.