MSNW receives medical book donation from BMA
The Maridi School of Nursing and Midwifery (MSNW) has received a donation of 90 medical books from the British Medical Association (BMA). The donation was received in July 2018.
The School is managed by the South Sudan country programme of Action Africa Help International, with funding support from Bread for the World. MSNW is part of the country programme’s health projects, designed to increase human resource in the health profession in South Sudan, in order to improve access and quality of health care services.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), South Sudan has the world’s highest maternal mortality rate at over 2054 out of every 100 000 births. This is due to poor access to primary and curative health services, and to low demand for and awareness of preventive services.
The lack of access to basic health care services could be linked to an insufficient ratio of health practitioners to patients. Indeed, WHO statistics show that over 44% of WHO Member States do not meet the recommended 1:1000 (1 physician per 1000 population) ratio, with the African region having access to only 3% of global health workers. One of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 is to increase the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries.
It is in this regard that AAH South Sudan is training skilled nurses and midwives in order to improve the quality, access and delivery of basic health care services to the community. This complements Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 of quality education and SDG3 of good health.
In 2017, 40 students were admitted at the School bringing to 120 the total student population. Maridi Hospital, managed by AAH-I, carried out 359 major and 725 minor successful operations in 2017, with the support of professionals currently enrolled or graduated from the School.
“Our trainees are overjoyed. Of course, it goes without saying that the faculty is also very pleased. The books will enable us to accomplish our ultimate goal – to support our learners in their development as qualified health professionals, ready for the job market.” says academic instructor, Asfaw Mekonen.
Nariek Chan, Midwifery student (Left) and Asfaw Mekonen (Right)
Many students embrace the value of reading but the expenses of purchasing reading materials is a significant hurdle. The donations will give learners access to a wider range of quality reading resources.
From left to right: Samuel Kwaji, Yeka Philip, Ciara Monika, Loice Kiden, Magi Josephine
MSNW will continue to collaborate with its partners in order to acquire supplementary equipment and library resources to provide its learners with the capacities required to become proficient health professionals.