Prioritising health issues

I have always wondered how the ministers in the Government of South Sudan makes their priorities. We have hundreds of urgent health matters that need to be addressed, but nothing gets done. From malarias and TB and AIDS to diarrhaoes and sleeping sickness. Of course, other conditions that are part of a poor healht system come on top too. High maternal death or avoidable surgical conditions remain major problems.

How do you chose which problems to tackle first? When the GOSS came on, they promise quick fixes for lots of things like building hospitals, clinics and health centers where none existed before. Old hospitals will be rehabilitated. Health surveys were done in all the states. What happend next?

It is unfortunate that many of the promises have fallen down the drain. The much publicised building of hospitals in each of the states of south Sudan turn out to be a huge scandal that caused the GOSS Minister of Health his job. Normeca turned out to be a small company that has no experience in such matters, only out there to milk the funds from south Sudan, at the cost of more  than a half of the whole budget!

We need priorities in health. It is evident that we cannot do everything at the same time. There should be a focus, a base from which much can be done. Do we have such plans, or we are just doing what comes to mind? 

The scourge of AIDS (1)

Now let us talk about AIDS.

I have been involved in anti-AIDS among the youth for a long time. I have seen how the young people think about the disease. Unsurprisingly, many take the situation with a lot of humour. I remember once giving a talk about AIDS and some guy mentioned that old line that AIDS, actually is standing for American Invention Discouraging Sex! He was so serious that he never smiled!

That was an easy one to challenge and we did handle it nicely. The other side of the AIDS awareness is that many young people see that here is nothing new. We got lots of pain trying to insert AIDS education evrytime there is a youth event, but they coplained there is nothing new: the same ABC’s basic facts etc. Uhm.

The down side is always that apathy sets in and many young people just shrag it off as just another disease too. But is it? Long time ago in the mid 80s, it is considered a disease of Congolese in Sudan, mainly prostitutes etc. Only those who visit these places get it. It is a sad fact which is still the case in South Sudan.

The Abstinence is impossible in the young, the Being faithful hard for the married, and the Condom? It is not always available! Well, there are those who think it takes the “sweetness” out of the sex!

Next time, we talk about another side.