Objectives & Approach

South Sudan is one of the world's newest countries. It gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011 as the outcome of a 2005 agreement ending Africa's longest-running civil war. Unfortunately, independence did not bring conflict to an end: a civil war from 2013-15 displaced 2.2 million people.The population has been severely affected by several health issues and extreme poverty.

The prevalence of diabetes in South Sudan is estimated to be 7,43% according to the Diabetes Atlas, 2013 and the health system does not have the necessary capacity to treat patients with the condition. There is a lack of support system and availability of trained paramedical personnel. The recently established division of non-communicable diseases has limited capacity and is lacking formulation of a strategy to deal with prevention, detection and treatment of diabetes.

Objective
This project aims at raising awareness and building human resources capacity for diabetes care in South Sudan.

Approach
This project aims to raise awareness and reduce the incidence of chronic complications through early detection and strengthening of human resources in the diabetes health care system. The project comprises of a three-step approach:

1. Development of a national diabetes strategy and guidelines:
A technical expert group will be formed to revisit the national diabetes strategy and clinical practice guidelines. The revised strategy will be based on an extensive review of local, regional and international knowledge and experiences within diabetes. The guidelines will be based on the “Diabetes Practice Guidelines” developed by the International Diabetes Federation for the African region and supported by WDF.

2. Training and education:
Health care professionals (HCPs) will be selected to be part of the “Training of Trainers” (ToT) programme. They will be responsible for training other peers in diabetes screening and management. The curriculum will be based on the training manual developed by the Ministry of Health (MoH) during the former WDF supported project (WDF06-181).
Four HCPs will receive a one year postgraduate degree in diabetes education. They will be certified as diabetes educators and will be eligible to work as leaders of the diabetes clinics. In addition, they will act as diabetes coordinators for the MoH and South Sudan Diabetes Association.

3. Advocacy and awareness activities:
Diabetes advocacy and awareness campaigns will be conducted and it will be covered by the national media. The campaigns will be carried out in collaboration with South Sudan Diabetes Association and it will include entertainment shows and health comedies to encourage attendance, as well as media advocacy interviews with local senior officials and politicians.

Expected results

• 78,400 patients treated
• 6 awareness and screening campaigns
• 6 diabetes clinics established
• 3,000 people attended the awareness campaigns  
• 60 HCPs trained in diabetes management
• 8 HCPs trained as (ToT) in diabetes care and prevention
• 1 workshop conducted for stakeholders 

Results at completion:

• 6 awareness and screening campaigns convened
• 3 diabetes clinics established (2 remain functional)
• 4,050 people attended the awareness campaigns 
• 15,300 patients treated
• 60 HCPs trained in diabetes management
• 6 HCPs trained as (ToT) in diabetes care and prevention
• National diabetes strategy and clinical practice guidelines developed and disseminated