{"id":41744,"date":"2025-12-23T13:59:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T11:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=41744"},"modified":"2025-12-23T14:05:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:05:39","slug":"saving-mothers-fighting-malaria-south-sudans-twin-health-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/23\/saving-mothers-fighting-malaria-south-sudans-twin-health-push\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving Mothers, Fighting Malaria: South Sudan\u2019s Twin Health Push"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a bid to save mothers, newborns and strengthen resilience against malaria, South Sudan has launched twin health initiatives tackling maternal care and malaria at the National Health Summit 2025.<\/p>\n

According to a statement from the Health Ministry\u2019s communication department, at the National Health Summit 2025 in Juba, the Minister of Health, Sarah Cleto Rial, announced the launch of her comprehensive Ministerial Initiative on Maternal and New-born Health.<\/p>\n

She said the plan would prioritize the delivery of essential, high-quality services in the hardest-to-reach and most underserved areas of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis initiative is designed to save lives, build system resilience, advance universal health coverage, and prioritize equity,\u201d she declared, underscoring the government\u2019s determination to place maternal and new-born health at the forefront of the national agenda.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization\u2019s Country Representative, Dr. Humphrey Karamagi, reaffirmed WHO\u2019s commitment to supporting the rollout, stating, \u201cEvery mother and newborn deserves safe, dignified, and quality care.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pledged continued technical and operational support to ensure the initiative\u2019s sustainability and impact.<\/p>\n

The summit also witnessed the formal launch of the High-Burden High-Impact (HBHI) approach, an evidence-based strategy to accelerate the fight against South Sudan\u2019s most devastating communicable diseases.<\/p>\n

The Vice President and Chair of the Service Cluster, H.E. Josephine Joseph Lagu, presided over the announcement, stressing that malaria remains one of the country\u2019s most significant public health challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis approach will target and rapidly scale up interventions in areas and populations most affected by preventable illnesses,\u201d she said, highlighting the government\u2019s high-level commitment to integrating HBHI into the national data.<\/p>\n

Malaria accounts for 66.8 percent of outpatient morbidity and nearly 50 percent of deaths in South Sudan, with reported cases reaching 3.8 million in 2024.<\/p>\n

The HBHI strategy is expected to focus resources where the burden is highest, particularly in rural and conflict-affected regions.<\/p>\n

The dual launches come against the backdrop of South Sudan\u2019s fragile health system, which continues to grapple with limited infrastructure, shortages of skilled personnel, and recurrent humanitarian crises.<\/p>\n

UNICEF\u2019s Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) 2025 report for South Sudan confirms that 9.3 million people, including about 5 million children, require humanitarian assistance this year, and that 2.3 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition.<\/p>\n

These figures illustrate the scale of vulnerability that the new initiatives seek to address.<\/p>\n

Parliamentarians have previously raised concerns about the country\u2019s high maternal mortality rate, one of the highest globally, and the urgent need for systemic reforms to ensure equitable access to care.<\/p>\n

The Minister\u2019s initiative directly responds to these calls by embedding maternal and new-born health into the broader push for universal health coverage.<\/p>\n

The combined momentum of the maternal health plan and the HBHI strategy signals a turning point in South Sudan\u2019s public health policy.<\/p>\n

By aligning maternal care with disease control, the government aims to strengthen resilience and reduce preventable deaths across the population.<\/p>\n

The presence of both ministerial and vice-presidential leadership at the summit underscored the political weight behind the initiatives, while WHO\u2019s endorsement added international credibility.<\/p>\n

The collaboration between government and partners reflects a growing recognition that fragmented interventions are insufficient in the face of overlapping crises.<\/p>\n

The National Health Summit 2025 marked a decisive moment in South Sudan\u2019s journey toward better health outcomes.<\/p>\n

With maternal and new-born health elevated to national priority status and malaria targeted through HBHI, the country is attempting to chart a path toward equity-driven, system-wide reform.<\/p>\n

Whether these initiatives will overcome entrenched challenges remains to be seen, but the government\u2019s dual offensive has set a new benchmark for ambition in the health sector.<\/p>\n

As Minister Sarah Cleto Rial concluded, \u201cWe must protect the most vulnerable, and we must do so now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alan Clement In a bid to save mothers, newborns and strengthen resilience against malaria, South Sudan has launched twin health initiatives tackling maternal care and malaria at the National Health Summit 2025. According to a statement from the Health Ministry\u2019s communication department, at the National Health Summit 2025 in[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":41745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-2","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Health.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41746,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41744\/revisions\/41746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}