15th December, 2011
Sounds of joyous celebration filled the air at the Maridi National Health Training Institute (NHTI) as relatives and friends rejoiced over the graduation of 145 students who had been taking various courses at the institute.
This was the 9th graduation ceremony of the Institute, and the first in the newly independent Republic of South Sudan (RSS). The graduates were garlanded and praised in song by their loved ones as they received their diplomas and certificates from Dr Michael Milly Hussein, Minister of Health in Western Equatoria. They included 56 clinical officers, who were awarded diplomas on completion of their three-year course; 15 public health environmental officers, the first class to graduate in this course; and 74 community midwives. Also receiving their certificates from the minister were 27 certified community nurses from the neighbouring Nurse Training Institute.
AMREF opened the Maridi NHTI in 1998 at the height of the civil war in Sudan and has supported the school ever since. The first group of students graduated in 2001, and today, the institute trains clinical officers, community midwives, public health officers, and health tutors.
Click on the image below to view a slide show of the graduation ceremony
AMREF Midwives taking their vows during the 9th Maridi National Health Training Institute Graduation ceremony
In his address, Dr Hussein noted that though South Sudan is the youngest republic in the world, it has among the worst health indicators in the world. This is compounded by the fact that the country has very few trained health workers, poor sharing of health information and low service delivery, especially for women and children.
Said the minister: “It will require a great deal of combined effort between the government, non-governmental organisations and other partners to improve health in our country. I am overwhelmingly grateful to AMREF, who have been our friends in times of war and peace, for their contribution to the development of this nation. The graduation of these health workers today will contribute immensely to solutions to health problems in our country through increased health service delivery, especially to women and children.”
He challenged the graduates to continue improving their knowledge and skills because they have very important responsibilities. “In the battlefield you must be vigilante to fight disease. You must continue to learn because science is always changing, and much of the health care in your communities depends on you. I urge you to be committed and dedicated.”
Guests at the function included AMREF Director General Dr Teguest Guerma, who was accompanied by AMREF’s Director of Capacity Building Dr Peter Ngatia; Germany CEO Dr Marcus Leonhardt; Board member Prince Ludwig of Bavaria; South Sudan Country Director Dr Alemayehu Seifu; Director of Human Resources Mrs Nancy Muriuki; and Head of Programme Management Mrs Mette Kjaer. Government officials included Dr Makul, undersecretary in the South Sudan MOH and Dr Margaret Itto, Director General of Training and Professional Development.
Dr Guerma challenged the graduates to use the skills and knowledge they had acquired to bring lasting health change to their communities. She affirmed AMREF’s commitment to continuing the training health workers in South Sudan. “We are a dedicated partner of the Republic of South Sudan and we look forward to working together for many more years. We hope that the new government will take up its primary role of running the various training schools in the country, so that AMREF can strengthen its role in providing key technical support.”
She urged the ROSS to invest more in health if it wants to encourage donors to increase funding. “African governments must put more on the table to show their commitment to development, before expecting others to come and help them. We must take action first, break the ground and start building and then others will come to help us to complete the work.”
Dr Ngatia pointed out that the graduates were the result of concerted efforts of many stakeholders, including the AMREF family in Italy, USA, Germany, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands; UNFPA and WHO, and South’s Sudan’s Ministry of Health.
The three cadres of graduates, said Dr Ngatia, are at the front of the health care delivery system, and are often the only link to health care for families, particularly women and children. “Clinical officers in this country continue to provide the bulk of clinical, preventive and promotive services and will continue to do so for some time to come. The rough estimate of the need for 1,500 more in the next four years requires expansion of training capacity to ensure an annual graduation of no less than 300 per year.”
The same, he added, can be said of community midwives, and the public health environmental officers. “Unless and until we have sufficient numbers of these cadres, who are well supported, the attainment of the mission of the MOH will remain unattainable, and the people will continue to be ravaged by diseases that could easily be managed and prevented. As your friend and partner in health for over 30 years, AMREF encourages the MOH to consider creating ample fiscal space to ensure that the current health worker crisis does not deteriorate. We envision a time when there will be a health worker within reach for every South Sudanese. But we need to invest!”
A day earlier, Dr Guerma had officially handed over to the Minister of Health for Western Equatoria, Mr Stephan Komiagi, an outpatient department and laboratory renovated and equipped by AMREF. The facilities will be used by students from the NHTI for their practical training.
“AMREF is very pleased to have been instrumental in the renovation of these facilities. Next we will be working on the maternity wing and the paediatrics wing in support of women and children’s health, which is AMREF’s area of focus for the next three years, said Dr Guerma. Women and children, she explained, carry the heaviest burden of disease in our communities. “If women and children are healthy, then communities will be healthy. But AMREF also recognises that men are very important as the heads of families and communities, and so we have included men in all of AMREF’s programmes to ensure that they are successful.”
Dr Guerma said it was important for South Sudan to learn from the rest of Africa and not make the same mistakes that other countries have made. One such lesson, she said, was the importance of maintenance to ensure that infrastructure remained in good condition for the long service of the community.
