Health in South Sudan

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South Sudan has one of the weakest health systems in the world, marked by a severely degraded public health system, shortages of qualified health workers, and restricted access to care. These problems have been shaped by decades of conflict, poverty, low literacy, and the country's largely rural economy, in which much of the population depends on subsistence farming or animal husbandry.[1]

Even before independence, South Sudan had some of the worst health indicators in the world, a situation that has persisted since then.[2][3][4][5] Neonatal and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest globally, while life expectancy is low. In 2016, South Sudan had the second-lowest expected human capital among 195 countries, with people expected to live the equivalent of 2 fully healthy, educated, and productive years between ages 20 and 64, up from 1 year in 1990.[6]

The country's health burden includes widespread malaria, recurrent cholera outbreaks, food insecurity, and undernutrition. Conflict and insecurity have further weakened the health system, damaging facilities, reducing access to basic services, and restricted humanitarian access.

Health system

Structure and administration

South Sudan's health system is structured into three main service tiers: Primary Health Care Units (PHCUs), Primary Health Care Centres (PHCCs), and hospitals operated at the state, county, police, or military level.[7]

Health service delivery operates across four levels: community, primary, secondary, and tertiary. Community-level services are provided in villages by trained local personnel. The primary level includes PHCUs and PHCCs, which deliver the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS). The BPHS encompasses preventive, curative, health promotion, and basic administrative services.[8] The government finances it, the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), and various NGOs. These services are intended to be free and accessible to the majority of the population at both the primary and secondary levels.[8]

The Ministry of Health (MoH) administers a decentralized healthcare system in line with the Interim Constitution of South Sudan (2005)[9] and the Local Government Act (2009).[8] This system is organized across four administrative levels: national, state, county, and community.[10] The national Ministry is responsible for policy development, strategic leadership, funding, and monitoring and evaluation. State governments oversee the implementation and coordination of healthcare services at the county and community levels.

In 2021, South Sudan's domestic general government health expenditure was 2.1% of general government expenditure, unchanged from 2020. In 2022, the country had 0.41 medical doctors, 6.9 nursing and midwifery personnel, 0.03 dentists, and 0.15 pharmacists per 10,000 people. The density of nursing and midwifery personnel had increased since 2018, while the density of pharmacists had declined.[11] Furthermore, healthcare workers in South Sudan are unevenly distributed, with Central Equatoria having the highest concentration. Rural areas, where most of the population lives, remain especially underserved and have limited health resources.[12]

Effects of conflict on the health system

At independence, the country's public health system had been severely weakened by prolonged violence and instability, and effective health service coverage remained below 25%. After independence, efforts were made to move away from emergency oriented, health systems largely run by international NGOs toward more sustainable services overseen by the Ministry of Health in South Sudan. Despite these reforms, two years later, international NGOs still provided more than 80% of available healthcare.[13] As of 2022, armed conflict continued to severely reduce access to basic health services for much of the population in South Sudan. The impacts included damage to health facilities, the killing of health workers, widespread malnutrition affecting children, rising mental and psychosocial conditions, and recurrent disease outbreaks and public health emergencies. Despite humanitarian assistance, prolonged conflict continued to erode and exhaust the skilled health workforce, limiting the country's capacity to deliver care.[14] Humanitarian operations were also constrained by insecurity, attacks on aid workers, looting of supplies and equipment, and major logistical obstacles.[5]

Aboko County

In Akobo County, 7 of the 15 health facilities were out of service because of conflict-related damage. These included Walgak PHCC, which was reportedly struck in an air attack, and Tangnyang PHCC, which was vandalized during recent clashes. Another major concern was declining immunity to disease, as ongoing conflict had delayed or disrupted vaccination campaigns while the risk of measles, cholera, meningitis, and severe acute malnutrition remained.[15]

Akobo was facing a growing water crisis after solar panels were looted and destroyed at the town's main pumping station, leaving it out of operation and sharply reducing access to safe water while many people had been displaced and conditions had become increasingly precarious.[15]

Médecins Sans Frontières evacuation

Since March 2025, facilities supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Akobo County have faced 12 security incidents, leading to the closure of three hospitals, with three more attacks recorded in the opening months of 2026. On 7 March 2026, MSF announced that it was evacuating its team from Akobo County following a government order, a move that disrupted malaria season preparations, routine vaccinations, and basic health services for displaced people and local residents. MSF said the evacuation reflected a wider pattern of attacks on health care and warned that the closure of Akobo Hospital would leave thousands without primary care, including around 200 women each month without skilled delivery services, among them an estimated 30 cases requiring emergency obstetric care.[15]

USAID

US assistance has accounted for more than half of total foreign aid received by South Sudan.[16] In early 2025, health services in South Sudan suffered a major setback following cuts to United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding initiated under President Donald Trump's "America First" policy. These cuts led to the closure of seven out of 27 Save the Children-supported clinics in Jonglei State and forced 20 others to reduce services, resulting in the layoff of roughly 200 health workers. In April 2025, Save the Children reported that five children were among eight people who died after walking for hours in extreme heat to reach medical care for cholera. A US-funded patient transport service had also been shut down. USAID had previously supported critical interventions for cholera, malnutrition, malaria, and HIV/AIDS, but over 90% of its contracts were reportedly canceled. While the US State Department maintained that some humanitarian projects were still active, it cited widespread corruption in South Sudan's government as a barrier to continued support.[17]

Apart from the United States, other major donors to South Sudan have already reduced funding or indicated that cuts are forthcoming. In the second half of 2024, the UK announced significant reductions, and the Swedish government shut its Cooperation Office in South Sudan. In response, international organizations have withheld funds to preserve their own viability, further constraining national actors working on the front lines.[18]

Sudanese and South Sudanese civil society actors responded to the international aid cuts with strong concern over their immediate humanitarian consequences, particularly worsening food insecurity, strain on health systems, and rising preventable deaths. At the same time, the cuts coincided with increased reliance on, and visibility of, existing grassroots response mechanisms, which these actors describe as both an established reality and a potential model for the future.[18]

Health indicators

The health situation in South Sudan is far from ideal. More than 50% of the population lives below the poverty line, and the adult literacy rate is 27%. The under-five mortality rate (U5MR) is 99 per 1,000 live births, while the broader under-five infant mortality rate is estimated at 135.3 per 1,000.

South Sudan's human resources for health are significantly below the minimum threshold recommended by the WHO.[19] Between 2009 and 2010, there were only 189 doctors across eight states—an average of one doctor for every 65,574 people. The number of midwives was 309, or one per 39,088 population.[20] However, estimates vary; other sources suggest a ratio of one midwife per 125,000 women.[21]

In September 2018, The Lancet published a new measure of expected human capital for 195 countries from 1990 to 2016. For each birth cohort, it was defined as the expected years lived between ages 20 and 64, adjusted for educational attainment, learning or education quality, and functional health status. South Sudan had the second-lowest level of expected human capital, with 2 years lived between ages 20 and 64 after adjustment for health, education, and learning. This was an improvement over 1990 when its score was 1 year.[6]

In South Sudan, life expectancy at birth increased from 51.9 years in 2000 to 58.6 years in 2021, with most of the improvement occurring between 2000 and 2012. Whereas life expectancy increased globally and in Africa between 2011 and 2021, it remained largely unchanged in South Sudan, at around 58–59 years.[11]

Compared with other East African countries, in 2020-2024 South Sudan had a higher health facility burden from malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malnutrition.[22]

Maternal health

In 2011, access to antenatal care (ANC) was limited, with 47.6% of women attending the first visit and only 17% completing the recommended four visits.[23]

South Sudan has one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates.[24] The estimated number of maternal deaths in South Sudan was much higher in the late 1980s and 1990s, with several years above 10,000 and peaks of around 20,000. It fell sharply after the late 1990s, declined more gradually during the 2000s, rose again during the mid-2010s, and then decreased after 2017. In 2023, the estimate was 2,271 maternal deaths.[25] Prolonged conflict has been cited as a factor contributing to maternal mortality in South Sudan, partly through its impact on maternity services.[26] Most maternal deaths occur during labour, delivery, or the immediate postpartum period. These deaths are largely preventable with adequate infrastructure and the presence of skilled personnel during childbirth.

Child health

Since independence in 2011, South Sudan's infant mortality rate (the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age per 1,000 live births) initially declined slightly, from 76.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011 to 72.9 in 2013. It then rose sharply during the civil war years, reaching 172.9 in 2017, before falling again. By 2025, it had declined to 56.75 deaths per 1,000 live births, below the level recorded at independence.[27] The under-five mortality rate followed a broadly similar pattern,[28] with the rate estimated at 99.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023.[29]

Around 75% of child deaths in South Sudan are attributed to preventable diseases, including diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia,[30] and malnutrition.[23] From 2020 to 2024, children under five accounted for more than 90% of inpatient admissions for communicable diseases. Infectious causes had an inpatient mortality rate of about 5 deaths per 100 hospital discharges. Malnutrition accounted for 2% of under-five admissions, with 4 deaths per 100 discharges among admitted children, and the combination of malnutrition and infection increased the risk of death.[22]

In 2025, more than 5 million children in South Sudan needed urgent assistance because of escalating conflict, life-threatening acute malnutrition and a worsening cholera outbreak. An estimated 715,000 children were at risk of death from severe wasting without urgent nutritional support.[31]

Immunization coverage

Since becoming independent in 2011, South Sudan has continued to record low immunization coverage by global standards, although coverage has improved in recent years.[32][33] Access to immunization in South Sudan is limited by long distances to vaccination sites, insecurity and poorly functioning health facilities.[34] Only 26% of children received all recommended vaccinations in 2010, a slight decline from 27% in 2006.[32][35] In 2024, coverage varied widely across the country. The reporting rates for the Expanded Programme on Immunization, the routine immunization system known as EPI, exceeded 80% in 24 of South Sudan's 80 counties, while 33 counties reported rates of 60% to 79%, and 23 counties reported rates below 60%.[34] Penta 3 coverage, the share of eligible children who received the third dose of the pentavalent vaccine, reached at least 95% in 41 counties, but remained below 80% in 31 counties. Measles coverage was generally lower, with first-dose measles coverage below 80% in 49 counties. The country also had a large number of zero-dose children, especially in western and northern areas, with cases reported in 66 counties and many counties recording rates above 20%.[34]

Male health

From 2020 to 2024, male patients had higher mortality than female patients across all major disease categories. Mortality was 6 deaths per 100 hospital discharges for communicable diseases, compared with 4 among female patients; 8 deaths per 100 discharges for noncommunicable diseases, compared with 6; and 3 deaths per 100 discharges for injuries, compared with 2.[22]

Community deaths

"Community deaths" are deaths that happen outside of hospital. They bypass official records and therefore hide the true scale of the country's health situation. This lack of data leaves authorities without the evidence needed for effective public health interventions.[36] Between 2020 and 2024, nearly four-fifths of deaths in South Sudan happened outside of health facilities. Regional data shows extreme variation, with some areas reaching a 98% community death rate and over half of the country's regions exceeding the national average. Areas characterized by sparse health facility networks, low population density, and recurrent flooding, including Abyei, Greater Pibor, Jonglei, and parts of Upper Nile, report the highest proportions of community deaths.[36]

The likelihood of dying at home in South Sudan is shaped by a mix of healthcare factors and social environment. While closer proximity to clinics reduces home deaths, factors like high malaria rates, lack of maternal education, wealth gaps, and regional conflict significantly increase them. Furthermore, home births and child medical consultations also show strong statistical links to higher home mortality rates. Especially the high share of malaria related community deaths indicates shortcomings in timely diagnosis and treatment at the most basic levels of the health system.[36]

Food insecurity and undernutrition

In South Sudan, from independence, food insecurity and undernutrition have been widespread, with children especially affected and stunted growth remaining high in some regions. Undernutrition has been driven by a combination of conflict, displacement, poor infrastructure, economic instability, and environmental pressures. These factors have disrupted food production and humanitarian aid delivery, while also limiting access to health care and reliable nutrition support.[37] The 2017 South Sudan famine occurred after several years of food insecurity and affected an estimated five million people, just under half the national population.[38][39]

In 2025, food security improved in some conflict free areas due to better harvests and sustained humanitarian assistance, highlighting the role of stability. However, 7.7 million people, or 57% of South Sudan's population, continued to face acute food insecurity, with conflict remaining the main driver. Malnutrition also worsened, with 2.3 million children at risk of acute malnutrition, amid access constraints, health service disruptions, and a cholera outbreak affecting Upper Nile and Unity states.[40]

Upper Nile crisis and famine risk

In June 2025, conflict in Upper Nile State, including fighting along the Nile River,[41] sharply worsened food security conditions in South Sudan, placing two counties, Nasir and Ulang, at risk of famine in a worst-case scenario. Fighting that escalated from March led to widespread displacement, destroyed livelihoods, and severely restricted humanitarian access. According to the latest IPC analysis, people in 11 of Upper Nile's 13 counties faced emergency levels of hunger, with around 32,000 people in catastrophic conditions, more than triple earlier projections. Overall, 66% of the state's population was experiencing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic food insecurity.[40]

Communicable diseases

The country has a high burden of both communicable diseases (such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The latter was estimated to have caused 28% of deaths in 2019.[42] Limited access to safe water and sanitation contributes to the spread of communicable diseases in South Sudan, including diarrhoeal diseases[43] and cholera. In 2024, 40% of the population had access to at least basic drinking water services,[44] while 14% had access to at least basic sanitation services.[45]

Malaria

South Sudan experiences malaria transmission throughout the year across all regions, and the disease remains a major cause of illness and mortality among children under five years of age.[46] From 2020 to 2024, malaria accounted for 31% of deaths recorded in health facilities and 57% of inpatient admissions. Among children under five, the case fatality rate was 2 deaths per 100 malaria cases.[22] As in other countries in the East African region, malaria transmission showed strong seasonal variation, with incidence rising sharply during the rainy seasons.[47]

As of 2013, South Sudan had one of the highest malaria burdens in sub-Saharan Africa, with malaria remaining endemic in all 10 administrative states through 2012. Although the Ministry of Health had improved coordination of malaria control and secured major external funding, the disease continued to cause widespread illness and death.[13] In 2016, malaria was the leading cause of morbidity in the country, accounting for 69% of all reported cases of illness.[48] Malaria has continued to pose a major public health challenge in South Sudan, with an estimated 3 million cases reported in 2021 and 7,344 associated deaths.[42] As of November 2025, malaria transmission remained a major challenge for public health.[49]

Malaria control efforts are undermined by large scale displacement, including refugees, returnees, and internally displaced people, as well as natural disasters such as flooding. These pressures further strain a health system weakened by years of conflict and risk reversing gains that have already been made.[13] Renewed fighting in 2016 disrupted malaria control by halting programme activities, restricting or destroying access to health facilities, and worsening shortages of antimalarial medicines. Although the programme later recovered, persistent challenges continue to create gaps in malaria prevention and treatment.[47]

Cholera

Cholera is mainly transmitted through polluted water and can cause sudden, severe diarrhoea that leads to rapid dehydration and death without treatment.[50] The disease worsens malnutrition by draining the body of essential nutrients. This further weakens patients and creates a cycle in which malnutrition slows recovery and heightens the risk of prolonged illness.[50] Cholera has been a recurring public health problem in Sudan, with outbreaks fuelled by conflict, deficient water, sanitation, and hygiene,[50] and a poorly resourced healthcare system.[51]

South Sudan experienced five cholera outbreaks between 2014 and 2023. These varied widely in scale, with reported case numbers ranging from 424 to 20,038 and fatalities from 1 to 436. Over this period, the case fatality rate ranged between 0.14% and 2.6%. The largest outbreak lasted 14 months, from June 2016 to August 2017, and resulted in a national attack rate of 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants. After the 2017 outbreak, no community transmission was reported until 2022. The two subsequent outbreaks were limited to single counties, affecting Rubkona in 2022 and Malakal in 2023.[52]

Flooding and conflict driven displacement has increased population movement, which has helped spread cholera within and between counties. Overcrowding in camps or temporary settlements, combined with limited health services, has worsened transmission. In many areas, especially camp like settings, inadequate access to safe water and improved sanitation forces reliance on unsafe sources and contributes to open defecation, further amplifying cholera spread.[52]

The most recent and ongoing cholera outbreak began in October 2024 in Renk County near the border with Sudan, with initial cases detected among returning citizens and refugees. By January 2025, reports indicated 22,628 cases across 33 of the 80 counties, affecting 7 states and 1 administrative area, many of them located along the Nile. The majority of infections, 84%, are limited to six counties, with Rubkona representing nearly 50% of the nationwide burden. The outbreak has primarily affected children and young adults. More than 50% of reported cases occurred in children under 15 years, including 30% in children under 5 years. Infection rates were similar among men and women.[52] By October 2025, this outbreak had become the worst in the history of South Sudan, with in 95,450 reported cases and 1,587 deaths, corresponding to a case fatality rate of 1.7%.[53][54] By March 2026, the outbreak had resulted in 100,646 reported cholera cases and 1,652 deaths overall.[15]

The funding cuts by USAID starting in 2025 weakened the cholera response during the ongoing epidemic. They led to disrupted surveillance, rationing of treatment, and the loss of essential services in affected communities. According to humanitarian and former US officials, these reductions coincided with a reversal of declining case trends and contributed to a renewed surge in cholera cases and preventable deaths.[55]

HIV/AIDS

HIV is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system.[56] If untreated, HIV can progress to AIDS. HIV is transmitted through the bodily fluids of an infected person, including blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal fluids, and can also be passed from a mother to her child.[57]

In 2011, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death with almost 120 deaths per 100,000 population; by 2021, the number had fallen to 76.[58] In 2021, mortality was higher among women than men, at 85.4 and 67 deaths per 100,000 population, respectively.[59]

In 2018, only 24% of people living with HIV were aware of their status, and just 16% were receiving treatment.[60] That year, the HIV epidemic in South Sudan was classified as low and generalized, at 2.7 percent, with pockets of higher prevalence of 5 percent or more among high-risk populations. The epidemic was highly uneven across regions and was geographically concentrated in the southern states of the greater Equatorial region.That year, clients of sex workers were linked to roughly 42% of newly recorded HIV cases, while men and women engaged in casual sexual relationships represented about 14.5%. Female sex workers accounted for 11.2% of new cases, and mother-to-child transmission was responsible for approximately 15.7%.[61]

The CDC has worked in South Sudan since 2006 to support HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment through PEPFAR, including expanding services at health facilities, strengthening laboratory capacity, and improving national surveillance systems. In 2025, it continued to deliver lifesaving HIV services, including diagnosis and the provision of antiretroviral therapy.[62]

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli.[63] It is the leading infectious cause of death among children worldwide.[64] Children whose immune defenses are compromised by illness or malnutrition, as well as those exposed to polluted air and unsafe water, face a substantially higher risk.[65] In South Sudan in 2017, most child pneumonia deaths were associated with acute malnutrition, many were also linked to indoor air pollution, and a smaller share involved chronic malnutrition. These risk factors frequently overlapped in the same children.[66] In 2018, pneumonia accounted for about one fifth of all child deaths.[66] In 2021, pneumonia and other lower respiratory infections became the leading cause of death after HIV/AIDS declined, with a combined mortality rate of 88 deaths per 100,000 population.[58]

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a contagious disease that mainly affects the lungs.[67][68] Tuberculosis outcomes have improved steadily since 2015. By 2021, treatment success had reached 82%, while the estimated incidence was 227 cases per 100,000 people. Over the same period, mortality from tuberculosis excluding HIV coinfection declined from 54 to 28 deaths per 100,000 population, and deaths among people with HIV and tuberculosis fell from 13 to 8.5 per 100,000.[42]

Neglected tropical diseases

Neglected tropical diseases are a diverse group of tropical infections that are common in low-income populations in certain developing regions.[69] South Sudan has ongoing, locally established transmission of all five neglected tropical diseases that can be controlled through preventive mass drug administration, namely lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, schistosomiasis and trachoma. In 2021, about 6 million received treatment.[42]

At independence, there were still cases of dracunculiasis,[70][71][72] but following the launch of the global elimination programme, South Sudan reported zero human cases in 2017.[73]

Kala-azar

Kala-azar is a neglected tropical disease. It causes immense human suffering and deaths.[74] After malaria, kala-azar is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world, responsible for an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 deaths each year worldwide.[75][76]

A major outbreak in South Sudan began in 2009, peaked in 2011, and over time caused more than 32,000 cases, particularly among children. The overall case-fatality rate was 4%. It was treated as a humanitarian emergency and prompted a broad relief response.[74] South Sudan faced another kala-azar outbreak in 2014 after the conflict that began in December 2013, with thousands of cases reported. Following the introduction of the same response measures, case numbers generally declined over the following years, although the pattern remained uneven and difficult to predict. In 2018, kala-azar was endemic in four parts of South Sudan: Upper Nile, Jonglei, Unity, and Eastern Equatoria, putting more than two million people at risk.[74]

In May 2025, South Sudan and several other countries signed an African Union-led agreement to eliminate kala-azar and backed closer regional cooperation to advance elimination goals.[77]

Non-communicable diseases

From 2020 to 2024, noncommunicable diseases accounted for 7% of both hospital admissions and deaths. Stroke and cancers, including liver and colon cancer, had some of the highest mortality rates, with liver cancer reaching 27 deaths per 100 hospital discharges.[22]

See also

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