South Sudan News

The COVID-19 pandemic remains a public health concern affecting millions of families including the most vulnerable population.

The World Health Organization (WHO) with funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting the Ministry of Health, Republic of South Sudan in fighting the spread of COVID-19 in order to minimize infection and protect the communities.

Over 200 healthcare workers have been trained with the aim to improve real-time detection and prompt response to disease outbreaks and other health emergencies.

Juba, 20 June 2022 – With support from WHO and Health Cluster partners, the Ministry of Health is targeting to vaccinate over 633 000 people against cholera in Juba county of South Sudan.

“The oral cholera vaccine (OCV) confer immunity up to a maximum of three years. We appreciate the efforts of the state Ministry of Health and partners in organizing the campaign”, said Honorable Yolanda Awel Deng Juach, Minister of Health, Republic of South Sudan.

World Health Day is observed annually on 7 April, to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO).

This year’s event is marked under the theme “Our Planet, Our Health,” and is aimed to raise awareness of the inextricable link between the planet and our health, as the burden of non-communicable and infectious diseases rises alongside the growing incidence of climate-related challenges.

Juba, 5 April 2022 – Two years ago on 5 April 2020, South Sudan recorded its first COVID-19 case. The virus was first declared in Juba before spreading to other locations. So far, the country has recorded 17 144 cases and 138 deaths.

To increase access to the much-needed health care services and improve the health situation among the internally displaced people and host communities in the hard-to-reach villages of Sirimon and Kuda in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria State, the World Health Organization (WHO) has deployed an emergency mobile medical team to conduct integrated medical mobile services to save lives.

Juba, 25 March 2022 - one year ago on 25 March 2021, South Sudan received its first COVID-19 doses from the COVAX Facility and launched vaccinations on 6 April 2021 with these donations. To date, over 500 000 people have been fully vaccinated and efforts are ongoing to increase vaccine uptake to reach a wider proportion of the population.

Since the first shipments, the country received 1.1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, all from the COVAX Facility. Of these, 584 463 doses have been administered and 3.6% of the total population has been fully vaccinated.

Akol Kuol Magiir is one of the community champion informants in Kuac South Payam, Gogrial West County of Warrap State. Mr Magiir since his involvement as a community informant for Auto-Visual AFP Detection and Reporting (AVADAR) has sent in a countless number of alerts of suspected Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) cases out of which four AFP cases were found to be true AFP cases. When asked, what motivated him to work so enthusiastically, his answer was “I am doing it for the love of my community, and I don’t want to see any child left behind in the fight against polio”.  

“The majority of our population in the cities and rural areas depend on untreated water points with potentially contaminated water. This puts them at risk of waterborne disease outbreaks like cholera”, said Dr John Rumunu, the Director-General of Preventive Health Services, Ministry of Health.

Juba, 10 February 2022 – The government of South Sudan today inaugurated its Public Health Emergency Operations Center designed to respond promptly and effectively to public health risks and emergencies of international concern.

The center is part of a $4.2 million African Development Bank grant-financed COVID-19 response project that included procuring an oxygen plant, vehicles, a wide range of essential medicines, lifesaving biomedical equipment and personal protective equipment. The World Health Organization (WHO) implemented the project.