Juba 23 October 2018 – WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti today concluded her four-day visit to South Sudan. 

During her first visit to South Sudan since becoming WHO Regional Director for Africa in 2015, Dr Moeti met with senior government officials including, H.E. Mr. Taban Deng Gai, First Vice President of South Sudan, H.E.Mr Wani Iga Konga,  the second vice president, Honorable Deng Dau Deng Malek, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) , Mr Alain Noudéhou, DSRSG/RC/HC/RR, members of the UNCT, NGOs and key donors in South Sudan.
 
"South Sudan is grateful for the visit of the Regional Director for Africa and this is a commitment she has demonstrated by visiting the youngest country in the region," said Honorable Dr Riek Gai Kok, the Minister of Health. WHO has been instrumental in supporting the Ministry of Health in the development and implementation of the Boma Health Initiative (BHI) - a community-based structure designed to deliver health and nutrition services at the community level that contributes towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.

During her visit, Dr Moeti also travelled to Wau State, where she visited the maternity complex constructed by WHO, the pediatrics unit and nutrition site in Wau Teaching Hospital and also attended the graduation ceremony of allied health workers from Mary Help College, the first nursing college for registered nurses in South Sudan, held on 21 October 2018. 

"I was very pleased to come at this very optimistic time when the peace agreement has just been signed and witness this event," says Dr Moeti, "human resource for health is a critical component which is required to strengthen health service delivery and improve the health and well-being of the people of South Sudan".

I see a country that is working hard in advancing universal health coverage, within the context of the Boma Health Initiative (BHI) and making concrete and tangible results of improvement in the health of the people by increasing health works force, leveraging partnership with international partners, accelerating efforts towards attainment of universal health coverage, promoting health and addressing health emergencies to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

On 22 October 2018, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Moeti and the Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E.  Dr James Wani Igga inaugurated the first ever PHEOC in the country - a centre that will respond promptly and effectively to public health risks and public health emergencies of international concern in South Sudan, the public health laboratory where WHO installed the GeneXpert machine that is being used for testing Ebola Zaire virus for the first time. During the event, the National Ebola taskforce meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr Igga and co-chaired by Dr Moeti. For the first time, the National task force interacted with two high-risk areas (Yei and Yambio) bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo in a live video conference to understand the level of EVD preparedness in South Sudan. 

The PHEOC serves as the strategic coordination center for health emergencies including the Ebola preparedness. The national taskforce meetings convene twice a week in the PHEOC to review and monitor the implementation of the Ebola contingency plan at both the national and state level.

Since WHO began working in South Sudan before its independence (2011), tremendous progress has been made including the construction and equipping of six maternity complexes, the established the national Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) in Juba - a critical component of health system in detecting and controlling any potential outbreak and the establishment of the national,  regional blood transfusion services and the deployment of 15 specialists to the high-risk areas to strengthen the Ebola preparedness activities and build the capacity of South Sudanese frontline health workers among others, but more work lies ahead. There is a real need for continued support to address the bottlenecks, gaps and opportunities in the health sector for synergies and harmonization to strengthen the health system and improve service delivery in the country in order to ensure healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.  
 
During her inspiring visit to the neonatal unit and collage of Nursing and Midwifery in Juba Teaching Hospital, Dr Moeti has pledged four ambulances to address referral challenges especially for mothers with a complication during delivery and other health emergencies. This will be the second round of donation from the WHO Regional Office for Africa. The 10 ambulances donated in 2014 are now helping the people of Juba and other states. She also pledged US$ 50 000 to repair electrical challenges in the neonatal unit, maternal unit, and operating theatre to ensure that they are operating 24 hours.

At the end of her mission, Dr Moeti reiterated WHO's commitment to strengthen collaboration and to benefit from the emerging peace and build the health system that is able to deliver health services to the people of South Sudan without facing access and financial difficulties.  

Dr Moeti also encouraged the media to inform the population about the risk of Ebola without creating panic and inform the general public about the preparedness activities in place.