Project Overview
Maternal and child mortality and morbidity are very high in North Kordofan where there is an estimated 78 per 1,000 live births and 550 per 100,000 live births respectively.

Furthermore basic health services and health awareness are extremely limited, exacerbating the situation on the ground even further.

Problem / Project Background
North Kordofan State is within a semi desert area, which has a population of approximately 883,800. It is a culturally and ethnically homogenous area with most of the people involved in agricultural based work.

The state suffers from long periods of drought resulting in a way of life that has become accustomed to poverty, disease and water shortages.

Maternal and child mortality and morbidity are very high in North Kordofan, 78 per 1000 live births and 550 per 100,000 live births respectively. Basic health services and health awareness are extremely limited.

Major causes of death are related to diarrhoeal diseases, acute respiratory infections, childhood immunizable diseases, malnutrition and lack of maternal care services.

These are some of the factors leading to very poor reproductive health status of women in North Kordofan. The need to improve awareness and services is particularly acute.

Project Objectives

1. To improve health and nutritional status of children, pregnant and lactating women in order to minimise mortality rates
2. Raise community awareness regarding issues related to health and nutrition
3. Reduce infant mortality through immunisation against the childhood diseases
4. Provide reproductive health services to pregnant women to minimise morbidity rates amongst them

Project Activities
The MCH activities are based in the NW part of El Obeid in an area called Hay Shareef. The facilities are based in straw huts located amongst a population that is displaced due to civil war in Sudan.

MCH project provides essential health support for women and children. The centre's activities cover nutrition, diarrhea control, immunisation, Vitamin A distribution, health education and maternal care.

The centre allows patients to come in for advice and treatment on illnesses and occasional home visits are also conducted. Health awareness is conducted through imparting knowledge about various health related issues to the community in regular information sessions.

The centre provides services to community members at the grass root levels and the staff members are specifically trained to impart the required and necessary information.

Some of the following services are provided:

1. Malnutrition cases (Supplementary feeding)
2. ORS provision (Oral Rehydration Salts)
3. Vaccination (Measles, TB, Diphtheria, Polio, Whooping cough, Tetanus)
4. Vitamin A provision
5. MCH Clinics
6. MCH visits and referrals
7. Antenatal and pre natal care
8. Small Kindergarten
9. Community awareness

Beneficiaries
The project has been ongoing for a number of years and has benefited since the beginning over 11,000 people. Estimated for the current year suggest that about 5,000 will benefit from the project.