Stories
September 12, 2024 • 3 min read
South Sudan has one of the lowest child immunisation rates in the world. 50% of zero-dose children (children who have not received any routine vaccinations) originate from one of 12 countries, including South Sudan. There are an estimated 17 million zero-dose children worldwide.
Zero-Dose Children
Immunisation is the foundation of the primary healthcare system. Despite tremendous progress globally, years of conflict and civil unrest in South Sudan has hindered the country’s development. In 2021, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, estimated the number of zero-dose children in South Sudan to be 145,590, with the majority residing in hard-to-reach, conflict-affected, and border counties.
South Sudan is experiencing a protracted humanitarian crisis. Flooding and regional conflict is interrupting the provision of healthcare services in most parts of the country, including the Abyei Special Administrative Area.
A recent immunisation campaign for zero-dose children, conducted by GOAL in Abyei, revealed that many children in the areas where our teams operate do not have access to routine immunisation services, and there is a high number of zero-dose children.
Community Health Workers
To address the high prevalence of under-immunised children in Abyei, GOAL deployed a mobile health team of Boma Health Workers (BHWs), with funding from GAVI through the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) partnership.
In South Sudan, the Ministry of Health is implementing a flagship community health programme using BHWs. ‘Boma’ translates to village, and these community health workers are responsible for carrying out health promotion and social mobilisation activities that educate families on the importance of immunisation. Immunisations are then carried out by vaccinators from the World Health Organisation’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI).
In partnership with GOAL, the BHWs and EPI vaccinators go door-to-door in vulnerable communities to vaccinate children living in hard-to-reach areas, where socioeconomic barriers prevent households from accessing basic healthcare services.
Achok and her three-year-old daughter, Nyanriak, in their home with a GOAL-supported vaccinator.
Nyanriak’s Story
Nyanriak is a three-year-old South Sudanese returnee living in Bac Chol Malual, a remote village in Abyei Special Administrative Area. Before Nyanriak was born, her mother was displaced by civil war in South Sudan. Her family sought refuge in Sudan before returning to South Sudan late last year.
Nyanriak was born in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum in 2021, in the aftermath of mass civil unrest and anti-government protests. “I was not able to take my daughter for immunisation services in Khartoum due to the difficulty in finding transport means to the health facility located approximately 20 kilometres from our settlement,” Achok explained.
When Nyanriak’s family arrived in Abyei, the toddler was already 25 months old. “I didn’t think of taking her for vaccination to the health facility, because she already passed the recommended age for receiving vaccines,” Achok said.
“I believed then that the health workers would not vaccinate her. I thought the health workers would blame me for not taking her for immunisation earlier.”
Nyanriak was identified as a zero-dose child by a BHW during a routine door-to-door vaccination. In April, Nyanriak received her first dose of the OPV1, IPV1, Penta 1, and MCV 1 vaccines – which protect against Polio, Diptheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, and Measles.
She was enrolled in the zero-immunisation programme (ZIP) and received her second dose in May, before completing her vaccination schedule in June.
“I encourage GOAL to continue with this approach of vaccinating our children,” Achok says. “Many children in my community did not receive their scheduled vaccine doses due to insecurity and displacement, I am happy that my child is now fully immunised and protected from preventable diseases.”
