South Sudan: Facts and Figures
Learn the facts about the health situation in South Sudan and AMREF's long history in Africa's newest nation.
Health in South Sudan 
- Independence for South Sudan has come at a very high cost. In the two decades of civil war - 2.5 million lives lost and the displacement and migration of 4 million more
- Human resources were greatly affected by the prolonged war and conflict, approximately 63 percent of the workforce migrated, 52 percent to the west and 11 per cent within the region
- South Sudan has only 27 percent of the health workers required to adequately serve its population and many of these workers lack key health care skills and knowledge
- Only 17 percent of children are fully immunized and only 10 percent of women have access to skilled birth attendants
- Child mortality is 135 per 1,000 live births, and maternal mortality is approximately one in every 50 live births - which is the highest rate in the world
AMREF in South Sudan
- AMREF’s presence in Southern Sudan dates back to the early 1970s just after the end of the first civil war of 17 years (1955-1972)
- AMREF played a key role in developing primary health care and a basic package of health services from 1974-1990
- The first ever health guide, dubbed the ‘Green Book’ which defined the health priorities and health development strategy for Southern Sudan was developed under AMREF's leadership
- During the protracted civil war from 1985 to 2005, AMREF stayed and worked in SPLA-controlled areas under the auspices of the then Secretariat of Health, later renamed Ministry of Health, Government of Southern Sudan, with the aim of reaching vulnerable communities in war-torn areas
- Since 1998, AMREF has been supporting the National Health Training Institute in Maridi, which trains clinical officers, community midwives, public health officers, and health tutors. By 2010 the Institute had graduated 350 clinical officers, 80 percent of all clinical officers in Southern Sudan, as well as 56 community midwives
- Currently, there are 203 students at the AMREF led Maridi Training Institute
- AMREF will play a significant role in South Sudan’s plan to train at least 400 clinical officers, 880 registered and certified nurses, 1,300 midwifes and 280 public health officers over the next five years
- AMREF in South Sudan runs several community-based health development projects, directly reaching more than half a million people including; a Maternal, Newborn and Child Health programme and a Basic Health Service Package project both in Terekeka County; a Primary Health Care Services as well as a Water and Sanitation project in Juba County; and a polio immunization program in Morobo County.
Read about the "Doctors" of South Sudan
