Juba, South Sudan – The South Sudan Health Summit 2025 concluded with the launch of a suite of pivotal documents, signaling a renewed, evidence-based drive by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to tackle the nation’s severe health challenges and advance Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The launched reports and the new Ministerial initiative are set to guide national policy, budgeting, and resource allocation over the coming years.
Minister Launches Special Initiative to Save Mothers and Newborns
One of the key focus of the Summit was the launch of the Minister’s Special Initiative: Assuring maternal and newborn health services in hard to reach locations. The initiative is a flagship program designed to ensure that essential maternal and newborn health services are available, particularly in the most remote and underserved facilities across all States and Administrative Areas.
The program directly addresses the fact that South Sudan continues to face one of the highest maternal and neonatal mortality rates globally, largely driven by a lack of access to skilled birth attendants and inadequate emergency obstetric care in remote areas. The initiative aims to reduce suffering and deaths for mothers and newborns and create innovative lessons for survival in hard-to-reach areas.
Inaugural Mortality Report Reveals Sobering Health Burden
The Summit also served as the platform for presenting the nation’s first comprehensive mortality data in the Trends with Deaths by Cause in South Sudan (2019-2024) Report.
Key findings from the inaugural Total and Cause-Specific Mortality Report include:
- National Burden: In 2024, South Sudan experienced an estimated 174,200 deaths, equating to a crude death rate of 11.42 per 1,000 population.
- Child Mortality Crisis: Tragically, over 40% of all deaths—more than 70,000 lives—occurred among children under five. Many of these deaths are preventable, with conditions such as lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and malaria accounting for 28% of total deaths.
- Shifting Disease Profile: The report also highlighted a significant and growing burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), which now account for 29% of all deaths, calling for new approaches to screening and treatment at the primary care level.
Honorable Sarah Cleto Rial, the Minister of Health, emphasized that the report’s evidence must guide a shift from reactive to proactive, data-informed health-system management.
Performance Report and Abstract Guide Future Strategy
In addition to the mortality data, the Ministry launched the Annual Health Sector Performance Report 2024-2025 and the 2025 Health Statistical Abstract. These documents provide a comprehensive review of the health sector’s progress toward the objectives of the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) 2023–2027.
The Performance Report highlighted the continued severe challenge in Human Resources for Health, noting that the health workforce density stands at 7.9 per 10,000 population—significantly below the WHO Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) benchmark of 44.5. It also pointed out persistent challenges, including stock-outs of essential medicines in 27% of facilities.
The documents are poised to be the cornerstones for evidence-based decision-making, ensuring that investments in primary health care, child and maternal health, and preventive measures are prioritized in areas with the greatest need.