A Healthier Future for South Sudan's Families

International Medical Corps works in rural and urban areas of South Sudan, focusing on improving immediate and long-term health service provision. Our work in 49 primary and secondary health facilities impacts nine counties across four states on both sides of the Nile River. Through these and other structures, International Medical Corps serves more than 483,000 refugees, returnees, and other vulnerable populations with a fully integrated package of public health services such as: primary health care (including maternal and child health), secondary health care, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, Water/Sanitation, and capacity building programs.

International Medical Corps’ work in South Sudan is critical because the country has fewer than 200 doctors to serve its population of 9 million, and also has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. One in every 50 live births results in the death of the mother; with the high fertility rate, this means that each mother has a one in seven chance of dying in childbirth in her lifetime. Sadly, another twenty-five percent of South Sudanese children die from common, often preventable childhood illnesses before they reach their fifth birthday. To increase access to care and prevent these needless deaths, International Medical Corps works to build the capacity of South Sudan’s health system through training programs that target health professionals and key community members.

Located in the eastern part of Jonglei state, bordering Ethiopia, Pochalla is one of the most physically isolated counties in the state. Much of its territory is located between two rivers, which means that the county is accessible by road only from December/January to April. Beyond April, there is excessive flooding in the region, making travel, even by bicycle, very difficult.

The situation with child and maternal health is as dire in Pochalla as it is in the rest of South Sudan. Deliveries by skilled birth attendants at home or in the health facilities are far too rare. The main problem in improving the use of skilled delivery attendance are several barriers that exist in this area. First, cultural beliefs deter families from bringing women to health facilities to deliver, and many communities lack skilled health workers to assist in deliveries. Second, persistent insecurity coupled with a near-complete absence of suitable health facilities and very long distances to them makes travel to them very difficult or even impossible. Finally, many health facilities lack the capacity and the staff to provide adequate services, especially for complicated cases.

International Medical Corps is working in Pochalla to address the third major barrier by providing training and expanded facilities to provide high-quality care to women and their newborn children. Currently, in Pochalla Primary Health Care Center (PHCC), the staff lacks the training, facility and supplies to respond in case of complications during a delivery, serious obstetric and gynecological conditions or emergency caesarian sections.

International Medical Corps efforts in this county will increase the ability of staff to treat complicated obstetric cases, to assist in complicated deliveries, and to perform basic operations in Pochalla’s only medical facility with surgical capacity by constructing an operating theater. The operating theater will have the capacity to conduct at least twelve surgeries per month, and surgeries will include caesarian sections, fistulectomy, ectopic pregnancy corrections, emergency trauma and minor surgeries.

Since the level of education is also poor in South Sudan (especially in the more remote and insecure areas like Pochalla County) the support staff of Pochalla PHCC need to receive increased training, particularly on maternal and child health issues and timely referrals, in order for the new surgery theatre to be most effective. International Medical Corps will recruit the best person available at the health centers and train them to improve their skills and capacity to ensure the job requirements are met. This presents a very positive opportunity for a health care worker to increase their skills and help provide vastly improved services to their community.

International Medical Corps also offers repeat training to health care staff to make sure their skills are as up to date as possible. Every month there will be one training conducted for selected participants which will ensure that mothers in Pochalla receive the best care possible when welcoming a new member of the family.

Links:

• International Medical Corps activities in South Sudan

Anthonio, a 57-year-old man, lives in Tambura County, South Sudan, with twelve family members in one home. Five of those twelve are children, and the family farms to support themselves. Money is still tight, and he often takes odd jobs to earn a little extra money.

Life in the region is not easy. Malaria, acute diarrhea, and intestinal parasites are all common in Tambura, especially during the rainy season. The weather takes a toll on the community – last year, a storm destroyed the nearby health center, the Mabia Primary Health Clinic Clinic. Anthonio joined his community in working out a solution – they constructed a temporary hut where health care workers could still see patients, but the clinic had little resources to treat the ill and injured that came to them. The South Sudan Ministry of Health did initially supply some drugs for the makeshift clinic, but the shipments were sporadic and soon there were no drugs to provide to the patients.

Given the distance to the next nearest health facility in the town of Tambura, and on the stretch of badly maintained roads, Anthonio’s family and community had no access to healthcare to treat the diseases that run rife through much of South Sudan.

This is where International Medical Corps stepped in – our South Sudan team assessed the clinic’s damage and immediately got to work before the next rainy season came around. The clinic was rebuilt and furbished with desperately needed equipment such as a solar-powered cold-chain refrigerator. Without this refrigerator, the clinic would not have a way to store lifesaving vaccines.

Additionally, International Medical Corps subsidized treatments at Mabia Clinic, ensuring the community could access health care without concern to cost. Finally, vulnerable families like Anthonio’s were able to access treatment. When his son was ill with a diarrheal disease, he brought him to the clinic for immediate care and medication. His other children also come for check-ups, too. “My own situation has improved,” he says, “now that all the children in Mabia are able to get vaccines.”

Much of the health system in South Sudan is overloaded and understaffed, lacking in trained personnel and supplies. International Medical Corps works in several regions of South Sudan, providing primary health care, HIV/AIDs prevention and treatment, children’s and women’s health, and reproductive health services. International Medical Corps is building capacity through the support and expansion of health centers as well as through training community health workers and providing basic health education for the general populace.

Your support relieves suffering and saves lives in South Sudan through initiatives like the rehabilitation and support of Mabia Clinic. Your donations rebuild clinics, train midwives, purchase vaccines and educate communities. We thank you for your generosity– because of you, we are able to care for families like Anthonio’s in the world’s most vulnerable, difficult-to-reach places.