31 October 2012, South Sudan – The construction of the new maternity wing in Bor hospital being undertaken by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health of South Sudan, with funding from the Canadian Interagency Development Agency (CIDA) is near completion, says Dr Abdi Aden Mohamed, WHO Representative, South Sudan Office.

This was revealed during a monitoring visit by representatives of CIDA and a WHO delegation to the new maternity wing in Bor state hospital. Among the CIDA members were Mr Philip Baker, Director General of CIDA for the Southern and Eastern African region, Chantel Labelle, CIDA South Sudan director, and Ms Caroline, Head of CIDA office in South Sudan.

In November 2011, WHO and the Ministry of Health, South Sudan, with support from CIDA, began construction of a multimillion maternity wing in Bor state hospital. It will be officially handed over to the State Ministry of Health by the end of November 2012. The maternity wing will be fully equipped and furnished with all the necessary requirements for a modern maternity wing to function.

Dr Mohamed added that the equipment and supplies for the maternity wing have already been procured and awaiting transportation to the state. “These should arrive by 15 November”, said Dr Abdi. He thanked the government of Jongeli state for their support and commitment to the project and informed the CIDA delegation and the State Government that through the support from CIDA, training for midwives had already taking place at the hospital, two medical doctors from Bor Hospital are currently specializing in obstetrics and gynaecology, and three national staff have been trained by a WHO doctor in the area of anaesthetics and are currently working at the hospital.

Dr Abdi noted that as a team, the Ministry of Health, the State Ministry of Health, WHO and other partners in health can do a lot of work together to improve the maternal health of the people of Jonglei state. He informed the Government that WHO with the support of UNMISS sent a consignment of leishmaniasis (kala azar) medicines and supplies to Ayod to support the response to the disease and that additional supplies would be sent in the next two days. He pledged WHO’s commitment to supporting the health sector with medicines and supplies.

Finally, he pledged WHO’s support towards the construction of a warehouse to support Bor State Hospital.

In his briefing to the Deputy Governor of Jonglei state, State Ministers (Minister for Security and Minister for Education) and State Ministry of health officials, Mr Phillip Baker of CIDA stated that monitoring and checking on the progress of the projects that CIDA funds is very important for them. This also helps them see how funds provided to different agencies are utilized for the optimum benefit for the population it is intended for. He added that this visit helps them get some feedback and observations from the state officials on the programmes implemented with CIDA funds. He underlined their satisfaction to the implementation of the CIDA maternal programme in Bor, Jonglei and expressed satisfaction and gratitude to WHO South Sudan.

The Deputy Governor of Jonglei state, His Excellency, Hussein Mar Nyout thanked CIDA and WHO for the supporting the state government to establish such a large maternity wing. He thanked the team for putting in to action the promised maternity. “Some agencies promise but we have not seen what they have promised to give us for one reason or another. But WHO has constructed the ward and we can see what they have promised us come to action”, said His Excellency, Hussein Mar Nyout, the Deputy Governor. He said he was happy that WHO selected Bor state hospital as the first hospital to benefit from the project.

The construction is one of the components of the a project being implemented by WHO together with the Ministry of Health to ensure the delivery and utilization of quality comprehensive emergency obstetrics and newborn care services in hospitals in South Sudan. A vital intervention towards accelerating maternal mortality reduction in the country. When complete, the maternity wing will have a capacity of 20 beds. Similar projects will be implemented in seven other state hospitals in South Sudan over four-year period.