U.S., South Sudan sign $166 million health partnership

The United States and South Sudan’s transitional government have signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) on health cooperation aimed at strengthening efforts to combat infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and emerging health threats.

The agreement, signed on June 25 under the U.S. administration’s America First Global Health Strategy, provides a framework for joint investment in South Sudan’s health sector and sets out commitments by both governments to improve accountability and disease surveillance.

The U.S. Department of State said it intends to provide more than $146 million, subject to congressional approval, to support efforts to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in South Sudan. The South Sudanese government has committed to investing nearly $20 million in the country’s health system.

Under the agreement, worth more than $166 million, South Sudan pledged to use domestic public revenue to fund essential health services, including clinical care, and strengthen health systems to respond to public health threats. The government also committed to paying health workers’ salaries, maintaining vaccine cold-chain infrastructure and improving transparency through regular reporting.

The State Department said the agreement is intended to increase accountability for U.S. health assistance by measuring progress against jointly agreed targets. It said the partnership aims to strengthen disease surveillance and enable the detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks within seven days of emergence.

The agreement comes as countries in the region remain on alert over the risk of Ebola and other infectious disease outbreaks.

The State Department said South Sudan is the 33rd country to sign a bilateral health cooperation agreement under the America First Global Health Strategy. According to the department, the agreements signed to date represent more than $20.8 billion in global health funding, including over $12.9 billion in planned U.S. assistance and more than $7.8 billion in contributions from partner countries.