By Dan Teng'o - Communications Officer
World Vision nutrition and immunisation
programs have had a vast impact on the lives of hundreds of children in
southern Sudan.
For the last six months, World Vision's Emergency Health Project has been working with malnourished children in Shilluk Kingdom, in the Upper Nile region.
Beginning in December 2004, and ending last month, the program provided screening and attention for more than 600 children aged five and below.
More than 200 malnourished children received UNIMIX nutritional packages, while 600 others benefitted from the supplementary feeding program, which significantly improved their nutritional status.
The children's health was further improved by the immunisation services offered by World Vision under the aegis of the 357,000 project, funded by ECHO.
More than 1,000 children were vaccinated through the project, against diseases such as polio, tetanus, whooping cough, diptheria and measles.
The Emergency Health Project reached out to hundreds of displaced people and returnees, whose lives and livelihoods were disrupted early last year when skirmishes erupted in Shilluk Kingdom. The area was one of the flashpoints in the recently-ended 21-year conflict between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).
Its main activities involved the reconstruction of five Primary Healthcare Unites (PHCUs), one Primary Healthcare Centre (PHCC) and one Maternal and Child Healthcare (MCH) centre.
World Vision also provided assistance to over 300 pregnant and lactating mothers in Nyilwak and Papwojo. Traditional Birth Attendants' training, vaccinator training, community health workers' training and HIV/AIDS awareness training were also conducted.
Also, thanks to the project, World Vision supplied health equipment and medical supplies, conducted immunisation, provided curative services, and conducted HIV/AIDS awareness workshops for health workers and community members.