Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The National Ministry of Health on Thursday called on humanitarian partners to empower the country’s health sector as it launched a five-year Health Sector Strategic Plan to improve health services.
Dr. Kediende Chong, the ministry’s Director-General for Policy Planning, Budget, and Research Monitoring says the Strategic Framework will provide direction for the health sector in terms of services delivery and health development.
The strategic plan is the continuation of the national health policy which was developed to cover a period between 2016-2027.
Dr. Chong said the document will also help the Ministry and partners in achieving its mission of seeing healthy South Sudanese living dignified lives.
“This means a lot to us because this is the strategic framework that provides direction for the health sector in terms of service delivery and health development in order to meet and achieve the vision of the health sector,” Chong said in a sideline interview with Eye Radio on Thursday.
“The vision of the Ministry of Health is to see the Healthy and productive population in South Sudan living a dignified life.”
According to humanitarian data, South Sudan has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, with 78 deaths per 1,000 live births.
About 75 percent of all child deaths in South Sudan are due to preventable diseases, such as diarrhea, malaria, and pneumonia.
Several factors including poor access to health services, a limited number of health workers, and lack of access to health services in South Sudan have produced some of the worst health indicators in the world.
Dr. Chong is appealing to health partners in the country to provide support to a sustainable health system instead of humanitarian approaches.
“We’re happy to continue engaging and make sure the necessary support is sorted out from the relevant partners but also to make the partners understand the need of investing in the national systems.”
“If we don’t have a resilient and sustainable health system in this country, we’ll not have the adequate capacity to absorb any impact created by any emergency. We’ll not be able to respond effectively and efficiently to any emergency.”
“It is good and it’s time for us to let our partners appreciate the values of supporting sustainable systems rather than humanitarian approaches all the time.”
On her part, Ayaa Benjamin Warile, the acting Minister of Health says, the Health Sector Strategic Plan will allow South Sudan in achieving universal healthcare coverage.
“This strategic plan 2023-2027 will be the framework for all health sector stakeholders should align their programs and financing for the delivery of health service care services in South Sudan towards achieving universal health coverage.”
For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan Follow Africa-Press
