Construct a primary health care centre
Support health units supported with hardware components
Increase the capacity of a nursing school
Train health staff in HIV/AIDS
The project is constructing a primary health care centre and equipping existing others. Furthermore, will offer support to a nursing school in Torit and is mobilising communities to take ownership of their health facilities. Local health committees are being trained to increase local-level capacity and HIV/AIDS is built into the Bridge Project as a cross cutting issue. The proposed activities complement the activities conducted by the Catholic Diocese of Torit (CDoT) in its extensive integrated health programme. This is why the project focuses mainly on hardware activities for health. When the project is completed, beneficiaries will enjoy better health care services, experience less congestion at health facilities, benefit from the services of qualified professionals, and enjoy efficiency in health service provision. About 150,000 men and women will directly benefit from the CDoT health programme, which is complemented by the health component of the Bridge Project.
Key Achievements and Pending Activities
Construction of a Health Care Centre
In coordination with the ministries of health and public works and the CDoT it was agreed that the health care centre to be built by the Bridge Project should be located in Kudu, Lowoi in Torit County. At this stage, the technical drawings have been designed, the bill of quantity drawn up and the construction materials have been purchased and have recently arrived on site. A borehole has been drilled and the construction site (80 x 80 meters) was demarcated and cleared by the communities that would benefit from the health facility.
The health care centre will include a patient ward with separate sections for men and for women and a block made up of four rooms. The specific functions of the rooms have yet to be determined, however, it is most likely that they will serve as consultation, examination, administration and storage rooms, respectively. Please refer to the technical details for information in the construction system that will be used to build the clinic. Once complete, the health clinic will fall into the hands of the CDoT who will assume the responsibility for running the facility. In the longer term, however, these responsibilities will revert to the government.
Distribution of Medical Equipment
The Bridge Project has supported a number of CDoT operated health care centres with hardware components. Through the government of Switzerland, a container filled with second-hand hospital equipment and supplies from the Swiss Army was provided to the project. Medical equipment ranging from surgery kits to medical clothing, bedpans to retractors and kidney dishes and stretchers to sanitary supply kits were provided to the health facilities in Eastern Equatoria. A supply has been stored as well for the clinic being built in Kudu and more will be provided to the newly built hospital in Kapoeta.
Supporting a Nursing School
The support to be offered to the nursing school in Torit is currently pending. Whereas it was initially envisaged to sponsor a number of nurses by offering them scholarships, it has been decided instead to support the nursing school directly. Discussions regarding possible forms assistance to their ongoing training programme for nurses and/or health workers are now taking place with the Ministry of Health and the hospital in Torit.
Train Health Staff in HIV/AIDS
In an effort to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS the Bridge Project offered a training for health workers in the hospital in Torit. In June this year, 54 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and Community Health Workers (CHWs), 48 of whom were female and 80 percent of whom are on government payroll received a six-day training on basic HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention of mother to child transmission.
