Near East Foundation - NEF Expands Badly-Needed Health Services for Displaced Sudanese

"We used to travel a long distance to El-Hajj Youssef area just to get even the most basic medications. We can now get them at cheaper prices at the NEF health center."
Village Health Committee Member

"The NEF center offers high-quality services at very low-cost prices. In the area, this center is definitely the best one available. The services provided by the center have contributed considerably to improving the health situation. Our entire team highly appreciates the valuable services NEF is offering to the Dar El-Salaam community."
North Khartoum Health Team Director, Sudanese Ministry of Health

"This is my fourth pregnancy, but the first time I follow up with a doctor. I used to call the midwife only when the labor pains came. Now I know how important it is to maintain a proper diet and healthy life-style during pregnancy. The friendly staff at the health center have taught us many things about having and raising healthy children."
Visitor to the Center for Pregnancy

For the past four years, the Near East Foundation has been working for the well being of the estimated 35-45,000 internally displaced people of New Dar-el-Salaam El-Rabwa, who have fled the violence in the south and west of their country and now live north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Here they face chronic poverty, both high unemployment and illiteracy, and many health problems.

In addition, NEF is serving surrounding villages of Al-shigla, Ramallah and Kandahar with their different community composition of mainly merchant and predominantly Arab inhabitants. They may have higher incomes, but share low education and health levels with their displaced neighbors.

Thanks to financial support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, NEF was able to establish a health center for the people of this area with virtually non-existent health care and engage them in addressing their health needs. In addition to general health services--diagnosis, primary health care, laboratory tests and a pharmacy, the clinic emphasizes reproductive health care, including family planning, prenatal and postnatal care.

In 2005 NEF was able to expand these services to include labor and delivery as well as advanced laboratory work, thanks to a grant from the Population Council. This extension involves designing a health management information system and establishing a sustainable pricing model for reproductive health care in low-income areas. All clinic services are offered at nominal fees to enhance access.

Given the kinds of health problems encountered by clinic staff, according to Ali Mokhtar, there clearly was strong need for increased community awareness, particularly about reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases. NEF responded with an outreach program of home visits teaching both primary and reproductive health care.

MORE TO COME

While reproductive health is the centerpiece of NEF's involvement in New Dal El-Salaam El Rabwa, efforts are being made to raise additional funding to help with local initiatives for basic education and potable water as well as expand NEF's existing community-based credit fund. A larger fund would permit more loans to more residents for projects that generate more income and employment. The loans also would capitalize local people to provide community services such as bakeries, transportation, water carriers, and energy-efficient cook stoves--improving the quality of life and livelihoods for the beleaguered residents of New Dar El-Salaam El-Rabwa.

A progress report on roofing and equipping the local school and improving water quality, now underway with financial assistance from NEF and partner organizations, awaits the return later this month of NEF project officer and technical supervisor, Dr. Mohamed Ramzy, now in Sudan on a follow up visit.