South Sudan News

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.

Yei Town, 22 March 2016 - South Sudan’s largest ever immunization  campaign was launched  by the Minister of Health, Dr Riek Gai Kok amidst large crowd of youths in the presence of the State Governor, Parliamentarians, government sectors and cross-section of stakeholders including religious and community leaders and partners in Yei River State.

Juba, 11 April 2016 - In an effort to accelerate the elimination of HAT as a public health problem, the Ministry of Health and WHO committed to reinforce and coordinate actions towards harmonizing control strategies, elimination, and sustained surveillance  process of HAT.

Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, is a parasitic disease that is fatal if left untreated. The disease is transmitted by the tsetse fly and is endemic to Sub Saharan Africa, where it mainly affects impoverished rural communities.

6 June 2016 - WHO launched the first ever drug module kit for the management of Severe Acute Malnutrition and Medical Complications in children. South Sudan is the first country in the world to introduce the use of the kit. The kit constitutes the most essential and basic medicine for the treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition and medical conditions. The kits comprise four basic modules of routine, basic, supplementary and malaria drugs.

Under the theme “Blood Connects Us All”, South Sudan has joined the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s World Blood Donor Day to acknowledge the crucial role that voluntary blood donors play in saving millions of lives worldwide.

 Share life Give Blood is the message behind the massive voluntary blood donation campaign carried out by the NBTS and partners to celebrate WBDD.