Where We Work : Southern Sudan : Health

Every month in villages across Southern Sudan, BRAC’s trained health promoters and workers provide door-to-door services to thousands of poor families.

The healthcare situation in Southern Sudan is much bleaker than for the rest of the country:

• Nearly 50% of the population has contracted malaria – double the estimated numbers in the northern region
• Only 5% of pregnant women give birth attended by a skilled health care attendant

The health programme covers the entire community, not just our microfinance members, with particular attention given to pregnant women and young children.

We adopt a multi-faceted approach to reducing the health risks for poor communities in Southern Sudan:

• Prevention of malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS
• Reduction of infant and under-five mortality rates
• Increased accessibility to health care

BRAC community health promoters alert medical authorities to life threatening situations – especially complicated pregnancies, untreated Tuberculosis (TB), and malaria in children. We encourage the use of Government health facilities and free treatments and vaccinations where available.

The programme focuses on the following priority areas:

• Reproductive health care
• Malaria prevention and control
• TB prevention and control
• Family planning
• Community health initiatives
• Basic curative services

Village health meetings

We also organise community health forums and raise awareness on health issues such as:

• Malaria
• TB and HIV/AIDS prevention
• Maternal health
• Family planning
• Sanitation