b'06 /SOUTH SUDAN: HELPING TO HEAL A FRAGILE NATION /South Sudan has \x1dent mo\x1e of the la\x1e decadeEnsuring healthy babies \x1b\x1a,\x1a\x19\x18mired in civil war. The coni\x1f has killed nearlyA \x1eaggering 800 women die in childbirth for every 400,000 people and di\x1dlaced millions more. 100,000 live births in South Sudan. The country also With very limited access to any basic services,has a neonatal mortality rate of 37 per 1,000 live South Sudan has one of the highe\x1e maternalbirths[1]. Mo\x1e women have risky home births, withNUMBER OF DELIVERIES INmortality rates in the world.only one in four mothers delivering at a health facilityA HEALTH FACILITY WITH A The Health Pooled Fund (HPF) bol\x1eers theor with a skilled birth a\x1aendant.SKILLED BIRTH ATTENDANTgovernments capacity to meet basic needs, providingHPF is working to increase access to safe deliveriesOCT \x16\x15\x14\x13 TO JUNE \x16\x15\x14\x12approximately 10 million people with services fromand high-quality reprodu\x1five health services in all\x17\x1b\x16,\x19\x1a\x18delivering babies to treating infe\x1fious diseases.facilities that we work in.Crown Agents is the managing agent for HPF, which isAt 30, Asento had already lo\x1e two babies a\x1cer going now the single large\x1e provider of life-savingto traditional birth a\x1aendants. In a culture where a healthcare to more than 800 ho\x1bitals and clinicswomans worth is closely tied to her ability to bearNUMBER OF CHILDREN covering 80% of the country.children, Asento had been o\x1eracised by theUNDER \x17 VACCINATED Now in its third phase, the programme has beencommunity as barren. When she became pregnantWITH \x15 DOSES OF allocated up to 450 million over the next ve years toagain, a neighbour advised her to go to the HPF-runPENTAVALENT VACCINEcontinue tackling major health challenges, such asGangura Primary Health Care Centre, where a trainedOCT \x16\x15\x14\x13 TO JUNE \x16\x15\x14\x12malaria and malnutrition. By procuring andmidwife eventually delivered her healthy baby.\x14,\x14\x13\x16,\x19\x18\x1bdi\x1eributing essential healthcare supplies, we areI am happy to have delivered my baby in the ensuring South Sudanese have access to neededho\x1bital, she said. I can move freely with no primary care and medicines. Through the Bomacomplications or back pain, as I had previouslyNO. OF OUTPATIENT Community Health Initiative, the programme is nowexperienced. CONSULTATIONS AMONGST going beyond clinics to reach people in remote areas.CHILDREN UNDER \x19Rapid Ebola preparedness and preventionTALK TO: MICK ROBSON /OCT \x16\x15\x14\x13 TO JUNE \x16\x15\x14\x12HPF Team Lead \x13\x17.\x19%The \x1bread of the Ebola virus in neighbouringmick.robson@hpfsouthsudan.org Democratic Republic of Congo has created an urgent demand for preparedness in South Sudan, where experts worry an outbreak could be cata\x1erophic. InAbyeire\x1bonse, DFID has allocated an extra 800,000 to theCOMPLETENESS OF HEALTHAweilHPF programme to improve sanitation and hygieneNorth/West SYSTEMS REPORTINGand ensure health workers in border regions are wellOCT \x16\x15\x14\x13 TO JUNE \x16\x15\x14\x12equipped to identify possible cases.\x17,\x12\x1a\x1bTackling malnutritionNearly a quarter of South Sudanese children betweenNon-HPF di\x1fributionsix months and ve years old are acutely malnourished, 10% of them severely so.RoadOne-year-old Zaina* was severely malnourished. She weighed ju\x1e 6.3 kilograms (A third less than a healthyAir \x14\x1a\x12 FACILITY KITS DISTRIBUTED SINCE child of her age), was dehydrated and was su\x19eringTHE START OF HPF\x15from acute diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia.Quantity of essential I had tried all other options in the community, saidhealthcare supplies the girls mother until a healthcare worker referred\x17\x18\x17\x13di\x1fributed (tonnes) 34 DAYSme to Yambio Primary Health Care Clinic. Within a week of admission at an HPF Stabilisation Centre, Zainas condition improved. Her mother also received counselling on infant and young child*Names changed to prote\x1f identities AVERAGE TIME FOR A DISTRIBUTIONfeeding, childcare, birth \x1bacing and family planning.[1] WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2017'