South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched the training of health workers to bolster it’s mortality surveillance system.
The mortality surveillance system training is aimed to improve the collection of accurate disease data, enhance reporting and completeness, and streamline health services and ultimately informing health outcomes.
Dr. Harriet Pasquale Akello, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, said they often find it difficult to document death rates due to insufficient information on deaths and causes of death.
“Knowing the numbers and causes of deaths is central to evidence-based decision-making,” said Akello in a statement issued by WHO on Thursday in Juba.
Akello said the country faces several challenges, including disease outbreaks and other public health events such as hunger, flooding, and insecurity.
She said disease outbreaks, inadequate health services, and high rates of malnutrition are just a few of the hurdles in the country and have increased deaths in the communities.
“With information on death and its cause, the health sector can target interventions to areas where they are needed most in order to reduce death,” said Akello.
She said weak mortality surveillance systems have rendered it difficult to effectively document events of public health concerns, including resulting death and its causes.
For his part, Dr. Humphrey Karamagi, WHO Representative in South Sudan said International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) is crucial for improving health outcomes, guiding policy, and planning interventions that will better serve the people of South Sudan.
“With accurate death certification, we are able to understand disease trends and patterns, identify emerging health challenges, and ensure that resources are directed to where they are most needed,” said Karamagi.
He noted that South Sudan has aligned itself with a global standard that will improve the accuracy of disease data, enhance reporting, and streamline health services towards improving health outcomes.
A total of 35 medical doctors and data personnel from state hospitals were trained to use the ICD-11, a global tool recommended by the WHO to record, analyze, and compare mortality and morbidity data.
