South Sudan minister bemoans poor funding for health sector

South Sudan’s minister of health, Yolanda Awel Deng Juach has called for the budget of health sector to be increased to 15 percent as set for African countries under the Abuja Declaration.

“The ministry of health budget is very low, my budget is 1.94 percent. Abuja Declaration mandates all member states to meet their obligation of having 15 percent domestic funding, we have the best healthcare professionals in South Sudan, we need to take care of their welfare,” Awel said during the Council of States plenary at the General Accountancy Training Centre in Juba on Monday.

She said the ministry of health depends heavily on donor funding.

Awel said her ministry has not been able to procure drugs, equipment and reagents after the multi-donor trust fund ended support to the ministry. “

“We need to be empowered; we need to make sure that we have got mechanisms to make sure we are giving the intervention,” she said.

The health system has been weakened due to years of conflict since outbreak in December 2013.

 Awel said 90 percent of the 12.4 million estimated population lacks access to health care facilities because the few in existence are underfunded.

On 27 April 2001, African governments made an historic pledge to allocate at least 15 percent of their annual budgets to the health sector. This vow became known as the Abuja Declaration.