Health

The problem: Sudan's population is estimated at 30.5 million, of which around half are children, with 4.5 million of them aged under - five years. Latest estimates indicate an under-five mortality rate of 83 deaths per 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate is 60 deaths per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality ratio is 215 deaths per 100,000 live births[1].

A high disease burden and inadequate health services leave children exposed to the risks of childhood illnesses. The inadequate health situation of the children has been exacerbated by conflicts that resulted in displacement, insecurity and destroyed infrastructure in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur regions 

What We Do?

Save the Children helps to improve the maternal, newborn and child health by focusing on evidence- based interventions to reduce under-five and maternal mortality rates, and support emergency preparedness and responses to diseases outbreaks and epidemics that risks the children health.

We work towards:

Increase access, utilization and coverage by primary health care for children under-five, pregnant & lactating women in the conflict affected areas through the rehabilitating of PHC facilities buildings and providing essential medical supplies, equipments, and diagnostic tools, clinical and basic laboratory services for diagnosis and management of common diseases. We also support routine immunization of under-five children and pregnant women. We provide Reproductive Health services focusing on antenatal care, normal delivery, and postnatal care and family planning services as well as Basic Emergency Obstetric Care (BEmOC) services. We also conduct disease vector control campaigns.

Improve quality of the PHC services provided in the targeted health facilities throughbuilding the capacity of health staff and support joint supportive supervision and mentoring visits to health facilities. We also train community health volunteers to assist health facility based staff and conduct community-based health activities

Increase awareness and adoption of key health preventive and promotion practices with child rights lens through providing health education on different Prime Health Care topics, prevention of HIV/AIDs and Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) services. We conduct Knowledge Attitude Practice (KAP) surveys to identify family practices regarding under - five child and maternal health. We provide community health education sessions, school-based sessions and home visits.

Strengthen local capacity in the targeted areas to predict, prepare for, respond to, mitigate and manage under - five children health risks that include communicable diseases and seasonal emergencies throughsupporting health information system and systems for integrated disease surveillance of communicable diseases and EWARS. We establish and support Community Village Health Committees and strengthen their capacities. We mobilize the community to participle in health related campaigns including control of disease epidemics and health risks reduction campaigns.

OUR IMPACT

In 2013, the health sector directly reached 465,059 people, of which 319,683 are children, and reached approximately 682,811 people indirectly of which 128,923 are children.