By Mary Poni
As health Pooled Fund has stopped to continue support the nation in terms of health services, it’s going to be a very tough moment for the government to lobby for support as well as health servants deserve worth salary pay.
The issues of Juba Teaching Hospital have been outstanding and they have been there for long time and it need real reform.
The hospital has been struggling with issues of power supply, running water and staff motivation despite that they are not paid for their duties but they still continue to offer services to the people.
The Undersecretary at the Ministry of Health Dr. Victoria Anib Majur stated during the launching of Intensive Care Unit at the main hospital (JTH) yesterday.
Dr. Victoria said it is important to note that for quality provision of health care services, there is need for health workers to be motivated and in that way, it will enable them (health workers) to work in a very good faith.
She urged the President for service cluster Hussein Abdelbagi to continue with the struggle to making sure that the civil servant’s salary is increased.
“Continue with the fight together with the other ministers to make sure that civil savants’ salaries are increased and are able to be motivative to retain their work in the hospital,” said Victoria Anib.
Most of the hospitals in the states are being handed back to the Ministry of Health since Health Pooled Fund decreed not to support health facilities in the country some months ago.
Undersecretary Victoria stated that Health Pooled Fund is no longer going to support the states hospitals and that is another issue that needs attention from the service cluster’s offices together with the Minister of Health to be able to find means and ways to support the states hospitals.
The current funding landscape for the Ministry of Health is not enough to provide quality health services to the citizens yet they are looking in to us and looking forward for us to be able to provide the services they want and for us to do that, we need sustainable source of funding to the government hospitals.
“If the government will not be able to support the states and the national hospitals, it will be a real disaster for us, and we don’t want it to happen and we are accounting for your support.”
The Health Pooled Fund is the largest health care programme in South Sudan, delivering services in eight out of the ten states.
According to the donor (HPF) report, the programme supported nearly 8,000 health workers in 797 public health facilities in 25 hospitals, 195 Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) and 577 Primary Health Care Units (PHCUs)) through a blend of health worker training and incentives, wider support to service delivery at health facilities, and technical assistance and oversight by implementing partners to provide.
Health Pooled Fund is a five-year, multi-donor programme led by the United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), with contributions from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the Canadian Government; the Government of Sweden; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and the European Union (EU).