Health Pooled Fund dispatches final medical supplies to states

By Awan Achiek

The Health Pooled Fund (HPF) a multi-donor program on Thursday dispatched the final batch of essential medicines supplied to various health facilities across the country.

The consignment comprising different types of medicines will be dispatched to 7 out of 10 states and administrative areas.

The donation of the 22nd and final consignment of medicines was marked with a tour of the warehouse by officials from the Ministry of Health, UK, Swedish and Canada.

The supplies will be distributed to 512 facilities across seven states.

“South Sudan has some of the poorest health indicators in the world, such as one of the highest maternal mortality rates, low life expectancy, and poor access to health services,” said a statement issued by the Health Pooled Fund in Juba.

It said the supply bridges the gap of medical supplies.

“The country suffers from limited supply of drugs and equipment, acute shortages in the health workforce, inadequate health infrastructure and poor health service utilization,” it said.

“Measles and yellow fever among other infectious diseases are endemic in many areas and preventable diseases such as malaria and acute respiratory infections are common,” it disclosed.

 Health Pooled Fund is supported by several donors including the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America, Sweden and the Global Alliance for Vaccines will officially close on the 30th of June.

The Health Sector Transformation Project a multi-donor project was launched in Juba last month to replace the Health Pooled Fund.

It will run for three years with funding from USAID, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Canada, the European Union, United Kingdom, Global Fund, and the Global Alliance for Vaccines (GAVI).

The Health Pooled Fund has supported over 500 health facilities since 2012 by building the capacity of health workers and providing essential medicines.

Since 2012, HPF has provided approximately 10,000 tons of essential medicines and commodities to hundreds of health facilities across the country.