A delegation from IGAD Secretariat headed by Mr Elsadig Abdalla, Director of Economic Cooperation and Integration has met H.E Dr Riek Gai Kok, Minister of Health of South Sudan at his office in Juba today.
The meeting was an effort from IGAD secretariat to provide support to the Health System of the South Sudan through support for development of Human Resources for Health (HRH) for South Sudan. H.E The Minister commended IGAD for its continuous support for the people of South Sudan, not only in health sector but on all issues pertaining to the state and nation building. In the health sector, the support of IGAD is essential for the establishment of a resilient health system for effective delivery of quality healthcare services for the people and resident of South Sudan. Specific appreciation is to the ongoing IGAD Capacity Building programme which contributed to provision of access to quality health care for South Sudan people. The IGAD Capacity Building program has deployed specialized medical doctors in the field of surgery, anesthesia, obstetrics and Gynecology and others who were distributed in different states of the country and they provided access to health care to population in remote areas. H.E The Minister requested IGAD to continue this initiative and ask for expansion of the coverage to all states and various specialties. Also, requested that IGAD to play more active role in short and long term plans for HRH development. The IGAD delegation promised the Minister that will make the maximum effort to continue this initiative which is supported by Norway and will advocate for a continuous mobilization of resources to uplift the health system of South Sudan. At the end H.E The Minister handed the delegation a letter to the Executive Secretary of IGAD H.E Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim with the details of the needs to support the development of HRH in South Sudan.
