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.

This training is vital for ensuring timely detection, investigation, and response to disease outbreaks and other health emergencies. The participants, coming from 35 selected private health facilities in Juba, gained a better understanding of the importance of reporting unusual cases and disease outbreaks to the authorities.

Mr Nathan Kibito, one of the participants, said, "The training has expanded my understanding of priorities diseases and the use of different IDSR tools for reporting.

“Some of my colleagues and I have been focusing on treating patients at our facilities but have been quite unaware of our role in surveillance, especially monitoring diseases and how to report to the authorities,” said Mr Kibito. “We have been ignoring some unusual cases. We understood from the training that there is no case to ignore; whenever we see a patient with unusual symptoms, we must immediately report to the next level.”

Mrs Josephine Nyokun, another participant, said, “Before the training, I had no clue about the importance of reporting, when to report, to whom, and how quickly it should be done. Now I have a better understanding of this reporting process, and I am now determined to start reporting”  

In his closing remarks, Dr Jamal Hassen Guma, Director General State Ministry of Health, Central Equatoria State, said “private health facilities are accessed by the majority of people seeking treatment. Therefore, training healthcare workers in private facilities will ensure that information is reported in a timely manner, contributing to protecting and saving lives”.

Late and incomplete reporting limits the amount of actionable public health data available to the Ministry of Health. Therefore, the rollout of the IDSR third edition to private health facilities improves data collection and reporting, facilitating the timely identification of public health events.

Dr Fabian Ndenzako, WHO Representative a.i. for South Sudan, emphasized that “timely sharing of health information is crucial for decision-making and effective response to disease outbreaks and pandemics”.

WHO is committed in supporting the Government of South Sudan to roll out the IDSR at all levels in the country, including private health facilities.

South Sudan has commenced cascading the IDSR training to frontline healthcare workers in its 80 counties to ensure that the third edition of IDSR technical guidelines are implemented for better coordination between human and animal health surveillance and other sectors involved in a “One Health approach.”

The training was held with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF), and the European Union Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).
 

Technical Contact:
Mr Julu Louis Kenyi Joseph, Email: louisju [at] who.int