By: Ngor Deng
Northern Bahr El Ghazal State Ministry of Health in South Sudan has proposed an estimate of USD 13 million as annual budget for the sector.
According to the state minister, Dr. Riny Riny Lual, the budget caters for improvement service delivery in health sector across the state.
On Monday, June 19, 2023, the state minister of health briefed the state governor, Tong Akeen, on the progress of his ministry.
“There are a few points we discussed; the state policy for the ministry, which was approved by the council of ministers, and the annual work plan, which costs USD 13 million,” the minister told the media.
He added that budget planning where the minister targets to secure USD 10 million from partners, was among other issues of discussion with the governor.
He appealed to persons of goodwill to also finance the budget deficit of three million US dollars.
“We also discussed upgrading some of the health facilities, and we discussed how to address the challenges we face as a ministry,” he continued.
Mr. Riny further stated that his ministry has so far posted or deployed medical doctors in hospitals and health care centers in the five counties to help improve health service delivery.
Dr. Riny further appealed to the health partners to support the government in filling the gap.
“We have five health centres in the state that are well equipped, and therefore need support from partners to stock the facilities with drugs and other essentials before the heavy rains block access,” he emphasized.
The Minister of Health further called on the donors to help them fill the $3 million gap.
Mr. Riny said they will use part of the 13 million USD budget for training the health practitioners, in order to build their capacity so that they can deliver quality service at their respective duty stations.
“And in this case, we are appealing to our friends from outside to support the suffering population because our state has an influx of returnees and refugees from Sudan,” he added.