Our Loheru Health Post Project is saving lives by providing healthcare, medicines, and health education to 15,000 villagers in an area with no other healthcare access.
The Challenge
The consequences of insufficient healthcare in South Sudan are dire. The region’s neonatal, infant, child, and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world, and the average life expectancy is only 42 years old. Routine health issues, such as diarrhea, pregnancy, and puncture wounds, can be a death sentence. Omilling, where Hope Ofiriha’s Loheru Health Post is located, faces the added burden of having one of the worst HIV-AIDS concentrations in South Sudan. The remote mountain village is about a seven-day walk from the nearest government hospital and 62 kilometers from the nearest government health clinic. Accessing either is virtually impossible for villagers because there are no paved roads or public transportation to get there.
Our Solution
Thanks to Hope Ofirha’s generous donors, we were able to open the two-room Loheru Health Post in 2006 and build a larger mutli-room facility in 2010. Our Loheru Health Post Project provides medical staff, equipment, medicines, and health education at our health clinic as well as emergency transportation (by bicycle) to the government hospital. The project combines treatment with health education to prevent and curtail the spread of infectious disease and reduces maternal and child mortality through early detection and treatment of disease.
Potential Long-Term Impact
The project saves thousands of lives. It ultimately will reduce the abysmally high neonatal, infant, child, and maternal mortality rates in the area. When parents survive to fend for their children, the health outcomes of the entire family improves. When more than four out of five children live past the age of 5, more children are able to live and reach their full potential.
