South Sudan News

Juba, 24 November 2020 – Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the second phase of the measles follow up campaign commenced on 15 November 2020 to vaccinate over 690 000 children aged 6 – 59 months against measles to ensure the continuation of immunization activities.

The campaign is organized and led by the Ministry of Health with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO, UNICEF and other partners, are part of the efforts to ensure immunization stays in the forefront of primary health care to protect children and future generations.  

To increase diagnostic capacity in response to COVID-19 pandemic, WHO with funding from the European Union (EU), donated laboratory supplies to South Sudan’s National Public Health Laboratory.

The supplies included materials and reagents that support real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the gold standard test platform for COVID-19 viral detection. The supplies are sufficient to support testing for over 500 COVID-19 samples per day for the next two months.  

Lucia Ngacho, a 32-year-old mother of 3 children, walked to the WHO emergency medical mobile clinic in Pibor town, the regional capital of Pibor Administrative Area with her 2-year-old girl Mama Arzen.

“I never thought my daughter would be alive”, Lucia confesses adding that she appreciates the support that she received from the dedicated WHO mobile medical team.

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN 13 NOVEMBER 2020 – A campaign aiming at vaccinating 1.5 million children against polio was launched in South Sudan. Currently 15 cases of vaccine-derived poliomyelitis are confirmed in seven counties across five states, namely Northern Bahr El Ghazal, Western Bahr El Ghazal, Warrap, Lakes and Eastern Equatoria. The reported cases are children under five years of age who now have irreversible paralysis.

On a busy Sunday morning at Rumbuol village in Aweil East County, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, the bilharzia mass drug distributors started their daily house-to-house visit to ensure they reach eligible children, regardless of whether they are infected or not, to receive the treatment they need.
With a broad smile of hope on his face, Ateny Kuel, a 10-year-old received his first-ever dose of bilharzia treatment. He is among the over 700 000 children receiving treatment from mass drug administration.  

Juba, 26 October 2020 – It’s a busy Saturday morning and the second day of the reactive yellow fever vaccination campaign in Kajo-keji County, Central Equatoria State. At exactly 8:00 am, when the vaccination team opened the center, Mr Basenso Loro eagerly waiting to receive his first-ever dose of the vaccines walked in majestically with his four children and his wife to receive the vaccines they have longed for.

When fever and body weakness gripped John Achuil, he feared it might be COVID-19. The symptoms were somehow familiar to ignore. The 28-year-old called a hotline number for help.

The rapid response team sent by the Public Health Emergency Operations Center in Rumbek in South Sudan’s Lakes State included an epidemiologist with polio expertise. The team ensured a test sample was collected correctly and taken for testing immediately. Following the positive diagnosis, Achuil was isolated and treated in a designated treatment facility.

As the world’s youngest country readied measures to prevent widespread COVID-19 infections, its years of conflict and natural disasters suddenly presented an unparalleled challenge: protecting thousands of displaced persons from COVID-19 within the sites set up over the past decade as refuge.  

Today South Sudan launched the first ever National Strategic Plan on Viral Hepatitis and National treatment and care guidelines for Hepatitis in South Sudan. 

Hepatitis silently harms and kills thousands of Africans every year. Of the 71 million Africans with chronic viral hepatitis, 300 people die daily from liver cancer and other complications related to hepatitis B and C infections.  

Juba – to establish optimal capacities for effective COVID-19 patients care, the Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) trained over 350 health care workers in the 10 states and 4 prioritized COVID-19 locations in South Sudan.

The training aims to build the capacity of health workers for COVID-19 Case Management and emergency response in the context of COVID-19 and enhance understanding of the heightened risks and provide adequate knowledge and skills on infection prevention and control.