South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The national Minister of Health, Sarah Cleto Rial , revealed on Tuesday that the child mortality rate in South Sudan is four times higher than the global commitment, standing at 98.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.
“Regarding child survival, as outlined in SDG 3.2, our under-five mortality rate is 98.7 per 1,000 live births, while the SDG target is 25. We are losing our children at a rate four times higher than the global commitment,” Rial stated during the opening of the fourth national health summit at Pyramid Hotel, held under the theme: Transforming Health Systems for Equity, Resilience, and Impact.
“Our neonatal mortality rate is 39.4, which is more than three times the target of 12. This is truly a stain on our collective conscience. In terms of universal access to family planning (SDG 3.7), the unmet need remains critically high at 29.6%, while contraceptive prevalence stands at a mere 6.4%,” Rial added.
The child mortality rate, which includes both neonatal and infant mortality, refers to the probability of dying between birth and exactly five years of age, expressed per 1,000 live births.
The leading causes of death among children in South Sudan are preventable diseases, including pneumonia, diarrhoea, and malaria, along with complications from preterm birth and intrapartum-related issues.
Rial also reported that South Sudan has a density of 7.9 health workers per 10,000 people, which is just a fraction of the World Health Organization’s benchmark of 45.5.
“On maternal health (SDG 3.1), our ratio of maternal deaths stands at 692 per 100,000 live births. The situation is alarming; this is a national crisis. For every mother we save, we are losing nine others to preventable causes. The SDG target is 70, meaning we are ten times above the target,” she concluded.
