Juba 2 July, 2018 – In South Sudan, it is estimated that 7.1 million people are food insecure; and it is expected that more than one million under five years to be suffering from acute malnutrition in 2018. 
 

According to the UNICEF/WHO Countdown Report 2017, among children aged 6 – 59 months, 31% are stunted, and 28% are wasted. Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates vary seasonally and substantially across states; with peaks of up to 30 % in some locations. 

As part of the efforts to alleviate the burden of the severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with medical complications in South Sudan, the Ministry of health with support from WHO and in partnership with, medical schools and health science training institutes reviewed the existing pre-service curricula, integrating key aspects of the WHO training manual on inpatient management of severe and moderate acute malnutrition, and the Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition guidelines. 

The objective is to ensure that a holistic student-focused knowledge is imparted to equip students, and improve their competencies to manage patients with acute malnutrition hence improving the quality of care. This effort compliments the guidelines for inpatient management of severe acute malnutrition developed by Ministry of Health with support from WHO and other partners.

With support from WHO Inter-Country Support Team, 27 health professionals drawn from the 3 national medical colleges, nursing and midwifery schools and health sciences training institute participated in updating the nutrition content within the existing course outlines. 

 “WHO is cognizant of knowledge gap and together with both the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Higher Education we will endeavor that the gap is bridged and the academia equipped with the latest guidelines in order to improve the quality of the health care providers” says Mr Evans Liyosi, the WHO Representative a.i. for South Sudan.

To improve management of severe acute malnutrition with medical complications in South Sudan, WHO provides SAM kits for inpatient treatment in stabilization centres (SCs) premised in Primary Health Care Centers and hospitals, where treatment is provided for severely acute malnourished children with medical complications.  

Thanks to South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF) through the Health Cluster, in the first quarter of 2018, WHO distributed 24 SAM kits to 15 SCs to treat 1 200 severely malnourished children with medical complications, in the former Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity states and Greater Equatoria Region. In addition, with funding from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF) through the Nutrition cluster, WHO has trained 70 highly skilled health workers from the former states of Jonglei, Central Equatoria, Western Bahr el Ghazal and Warrap on Inpatient Management of severe acute malnutrition with medical complications in 2018.