Community Health Interventions in South Sudan: Policy Brief
Despite the conflict in South Sudan, community health programmes such as integrated community case management for communicable diseases and neglected tropical diseases have been successful.
South Sudan has experienced significant levels of fragility, conflict, and violence for nearly half a century. It is estimated that over 400,000 lives have been lost since 2013 due to conflict and millions more have been displaced. With very limited access to basic health services, South Sudan has some of the worst health indicators in the world, with mainly women and children affected. The health system is underdeveloped and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide nearly 80 per cent of the services. Where they function, health services are particularly constrained, poorly aligned and lacking in coordination, meaning access by the community is limited.
Crown Agents is the managing agent of the Health Pooled Fund (HPF), which strengthens the government’s capacity to meet basic needs, providing approximately 10 million people with health care services. The HPF is now the single largest provider of life-saving healthcare in 80 per cent of the country, supporting at least 800 health facilities.
In March 2017, the Ministry of Health (MoH) launched the Boma Health Initiative (BHI), a community health system strengthening initiative intended to bridge the gap between health facilities and communities. It is designed to increase equitable access to community health services, and the participation of communities in promoting ownership and sustainability of the health services.
To achieve the BHI goal, trained and full-time salaried community health workers (CHWs) would be responsible for delivering a standard, integrated basic package of promotional, preventive, and selected curative health services, focusing on:
- Child health
- Maternal and infant health
- Control of communicable and non-communicable diseases
- Disease surveillance
- Reporting of service delivery data and vital statistics.
As the BHI is new and lacks documented evidence of its practice, KIT Royal Tropical Institute, a consortium partner of HPF, undertook a study to guide its implementation in a more resilient and sustainable manner. The findings of the study will be used by the HPF programme to enhance community engagement and to improve health outcomes across the country.
Read the full policy brief here