The government and health partners such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) have embarked on mapping existing and potential resources to strengthen South Sudan’s health security.
The strategy includes determining the pending priority activities, funding gaps, and potential funding sources for the implementation of the five-year South Sudan National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS).
According to the Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Paul Samson Baba, the implementation of the NAPHS would help the country attain the core capacity requirements under the International Health Regulation (IHR), 2005.
“The NAPHS is a great achievement [and] we must move ahead with the resource mapping and partnership building. There is a need for all stakeholders to ensure that South Sudan establishes and maintains the necessary capacity for health security under the IHR 2005,” Dr Baba said on Wednesday.
During the two days, Dr Baba was doing the mapping exercise using the resource mapping tool and process developed by the WHO.
The two maps show the health security projects that donors and the government are supporting in the country.
The tool allows policymakers, donors, and partners to identify existing gaps and where more investment in financial and technical resources is required to improve the health system.
Furthermore, the tool provides valuable information for South Sudan as well as offers visibility for the partners’ investments in the health sector. Again, it will help in monitoring progress in implementing the NAPHS, identifying human resource needs and providing expert technical assistance.
The WHO Representative for South Sudan, Dr Fabian Ndenzako, underscored the importance of strengthening stakeholder engagement and collaboration to ensure alignment of efforts, reduce duplication for an enhanced emergency response capacity in the country.
“South Sudan has made progress in health security planning by completing the Joint Extension Evaluation of the country’s health emergency preparedness capacity, and using the recommendations to develop and launch the National Action Plan for Health Security.”
“We must ensure that the NAPHS is implemented as it must be to establish and maintain optimal national capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to any public health threats.” Dr Ndenzako said.
He added, “Given South Sudan’s increased vulnerability to numerous emergencies with public health consequences and in a fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable setting compounded with severe food insecurity, floods, and disease outbreaks, there is a need to identify available resources and invest more in preparedness to strengthen whole-of-government, whole-of-society institutional capacities for implementation of NAPHS.”