CMMB South Sudan

CMMB has been actively involved in South Sudan since 2009, implementing projects related to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, refugee health services, gender-based violence prevention and survivor counseling, and child protection. Under the leadership of Dr. James Eyul, South Sudan Country Director, CMMB maintains an office in Yambio, Western Equatoria State (WES).

Providing Essential HIV/AIDS Services

CMMB is implementing a five-year CDC-funded HIV prevention and care project in Western Equatoria State. The initiative aims to reduce the incidence of new HIV infections through primary and secondary prevention and improve care and support to people living with HIV (PLHIV) through strengthening community, county, and state-level actors. The project, called ANISA (“together” in Zande), was launched in response to low awareness of HIV, lack of HIV counseling and testing, and poor infrastructure for care and treatment of HIV. CMMB serves as the prime for the project with implementation assistance from World Vision and a variety of local partners.

Specific project activities include:

• Expanding HIV counseling and testing services to reach rural communities.
• Strengthening PMTCT service delivery and coverage.
• Prevention education, including sexual risk reduction.
• Healthcare worker training and capacity building in project areas.
• Laboratory assessments and systems strengthening.
• Psychosocial support through PLHIV and Mother’s clubs.
• Broadening palliative care services, including home-based care.
• Stigma reduction and community outreach activities.

In the first two years of the project, ANISA has reached 26,648 individuals with HCT and 6,402 pregnant or lactating women with MTCT services. More than 80,000 individuals have been educated on HIV prevention methods and 10,176 PLHIV have received home-based palliative care.  To build local capacity, sustainability, and ownership, CMMB has trained more than 1,200 people in PMTCT, HCT, palliative care, and HIV education messaging.

Reaching Underserved Communities

Building on its groundbreaking work in WES, including opening the first PMTCT clinics and training the first midwives in PMTCT protocol, CMMB is working to expand HIV/AIDS services to Ezo County.  Given its geographic location on the border with DRC and the Central African Republic, Ezo is the home to several IDP/refugee camps. CMMB worked closely with the ROSS and Ministry of Health to open the first ART center in Ezo with support from The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). CMMB has and will continue to provide training for healthcare workers and technical assistance to the new facility, which has already enrolled hundreds of patients.