COMMUNITY HEALTH and NUTRITION

The state of community health in Sudan is sobering. Striking disparities exist between north and south.

   
Sudan		 Southern
Sudan
Life Expectancy (2000-2005) 52 42
Physicians per 100,000 people (1990-2002) 25 1
Births attended by qualified health personnel (2006) 86% 9%
Lifetime risk of dying in pregnancy or childbirth (2006) 1 in 37 1 in 7
Infant mortality per 1000 live births (2006) 82 102
Under 5 mortality per 1000 (2001) 94 135
Under 5 suffering malnutrition (1995-2001) 17% 48%

A 2004 baseline study by the New Centre for Statistics and Evaluation found a high incidence of disease among children under 5: diarrhea (45%), acute respiratory infection (30%), and fever/malaria (61%).

The ECS operates a modest collective of primary care clinics with support from church partners, small grants, patient fees, and volunteers. The Church seeks funding from major donors and/or government along with technical expertise to respond to the healthcare crisis at scale.

The Community Health and Nutrition working group developed a five point plan to further the Church’s efforts:

  • Conduct a survey of existing health care in Southern Sudan to assess the availability of dispensaries, primary health care units, primary health care centers, and hospitals. Dr. Katie Rhoads, an American media teaching part-time at Gulu Hospital, has charge of this effort with target completion by year end.
  • Engage the existing ECS Health Commission in prioritizing healthcare development projects based on the results of the survey. Develop a concrete action plan.
  • Staff the Commission with one or more External Medical Consultants to work with a Sudani medical expert/administrator. Devise a management infrastructure that supports large-scale, multi-tier service delivery.
  • Actively seek partnerships with churches, dioceses, and NGOs to improve health care and nutrition in a planned, progressive manner.
  • Re-establish hospital care in Equatoria (Lui) with an eye toward providing hospitals for Bahr El-Ghazal, the Upper Nile, and the Nuba Mountains.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Peter Morris
Chief Medical Officer
Wake County, North Carolina

or

The Very Revd. June Osborne
Dean of Salisbury Cathedral
The Church of England