World Aids Day- Southern Sudan

Dr. George Lutwama, HIV/AIDS Program Manager, delivers a speech during an event marking World AIDS Day in Bor, Jonglei State, Southern Sudan.

IMA and Partners Battle HIV/AIDS in Southern Sudan

by Vince Masi/IMA

IMA World Health has held an event marking World AIDS Day, December 1^st,  in Bor, Jonglei State, Southern Sudan.   Dr. George Lutwama, HIV/AIDS Program Manager, spoke on behalf of IMA about the organization’s role in fighting HIV/AIDS in the country.

IMA began working in selected counties in both Jonglei and Upper Nile states in September with a multi-level approach, seeking to:

• Increase the capacity of the Southern Sudan AIDS Commission (SSAC) and the Ministry of Health to provide essential HIV/AIDS services, including:
  • HIV prevention service (behavior change communication, mass media messaging, condom provision, etc.).
  • HIV/AIDS voluntary counseling and testing (VCT).
  • Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT).
  • HIV/AIDS care and treatment, including the provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART).
• Strengthen the capacity of the state branches of SSAC.
• Increase the capacity of local non-governmental and community-organizations to provide specific HIV/AIDS services.

Since then, IMA has trained 12 individuals in Jonglei state (in the counties of Bor, Fangak, Nyiror, Ayod, Wuror, and Pochalla) to provide VCT in specific health care facilities in these counties. The hope is to expand the services in the near future to include PMTCT for pregnant women and their unborn children.

Renovated ART Facility

The governor of Jonglie State, His Excellency Kuol Manyang Juuk, officially opens the renovated ART facility in Bor Hospital.

IMA and several partners have also recently finished training 4 ART service providers for the Bor Civil Hospital in Jonglei as well as assisting in the renovation of the ART facility in the hospital.  These personnel –including a doctor, a pharmacist, and nurses—will be responsible for providing essential medical care to HIV-infected persons who are referred to the hospital from VCT centers. 

The renovation of the hospital has been made possible with support from the Multi Donor Trust Fund, the Ministry of Health of the Government of Southern Sudan, and the Southern Sudan Aids Commission.

“Our communities need more information about HIV/AIDS,” said Dr. George Lutwama in a speech on Dec  1^st . “We need to increase the demand for universal access to treatment for both adults and children, end stock outs of medicines, increase the number of trained workers, and ensuring access and accurate preventive information the young, and adults.”