South Sudan News

Juba, 8 December 2015 - South Sudan took an important step in the global fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) with the launch of a new Five Year Implementation Plan (2016 – 2020) to control and eliminate all neglected tropical diseases endemic in the country.

14 December 2015 - In South Sudan, the World Health Organization (WHO) is working alongside the Ministry of Health to implement a new disease early warning system capable of monitoring approximately 500 000 people in hard-to-reach settings for only three cents per person.

Humanitarian emergencies increase the risk of transmitting disease. Disease outbreaks, such as malaria, measles and cholera, are often a major cause of illnesses and death during crises.

The global Early Warning and Response System (EWARS) project is a WHO initiative to catch disease outbreaks early on to be able to contain them in emergencies. It supports Ministries of Health and health partners by providing technical support, training and field-based tools.

As part of the efforts to reduce maternal mortality in South Sudan, the WHO with support from the Government of Canada is to build maternity complexes in Torit, Kuajok and Awiel.. This is the second phase of the 19.4 million Canadian Dollars project that comprises of infrastructure, equipment’s and training of health personnel.

Juba, 10 February 2016 --  To accelerate the elimination of onchocerciasis (river blindness) in South Sudan, WHO and the Ministry of Health (MoH) are conducting community-based mass drug administration (MDA) with ivermectin, to targeted population in endemic counties of South Sudan.

River blindness is the world's second leading infectious cause of blindness. It is a parasitic disease caused by Onchocerciasis volvulus (OV) and transmitted by blackfly, an insect that breeds along fast flowing rivers.

Radio is an important tool for the rapid diffusion of important messages on health.  Regular live radio talk programmes have been successfully used in South Sudan.

Juba, 17 February 2016 -  The Ministry of Health, and the WHO Country Office, concluded a one-day Consultative Meeting on the Boma Health Initiative (BHI), a strategy adopted by the MoH to strengthen community health systems and the 2016/2017 work plan.

The purpose of the meetings was to generate a common understanding of the WHO approved work plans for 2016/17 biennium, to explain the main deliverables of the WHO work plans for biennium and to agree on WHO strategy and plan of action for implementation of the BHI.

 Juba, February/March 2016 - South Sudan has laid the foundations to scale up the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) by 2020. Following the launch of the Master Plan in December 2015, the Ministry of Health and WHO completed the nationwide training of NTD mapping and has embarked on a national mapping exercise for Schistosomiasis (SCH), Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH) and Lymphatic Filariasis (LF). The exercise commences with mapping of 31 Counties in the first phase.

Juba, 16 March 2016: WHO South Sudan Country Office held a two-day annual retreat from 15 to 16 March 2016 at Juba Regency Hotel.

The objective of the two-day retreat was to foster a strong team spirit among staff and challenge them to contribute to creating a highly successful WHO country office through innovation and hard work.

Juba, 19 March 2016 - WHO country office held a three-day workshop for state focal points from 17 to 19 March 2016 at Juba Regency Hotel.

The objective of the workshop was to strengthen the capacity of WHO state focal points and Health Cluster Coordinators to develop substantive knowledge in the overall WHO technical outputs as well as Coordination related skills that will improve the performance of WHO and Health Cluster operations in South Sudan in line with the smart technical focus of the WHO/AFRO Transformation Agenda.