About

ELSSA Aims to promote, develop and deliver high quality health care and professional skills training for medical, midwifery, nursing and community practitioners in low resource countries in Africa. Initially concentrating on South Sudan.

1. Training – Promote and develop high quality health care and professional skills training for low resource countries or regions.
2. Sustainability – Aims to develop a core group for health care facilitators and trainers within the country or region who would sustain ongoing programmes of skills, training and post-graduate development. 
3. Mentoring – Promote and facilitate the development of relevant skills and training by providing training and mentorship in appropriate institutions including the use of computer and internet based technology. 
4. Partnerships – Develop a working associations and partnerships with relevant government statutory bodies, local communities, non-government organisations, existing structures, organisations and institutions in order to promote, improve and develop professional medical and health care skills.

ELSSA promotes and delivers high quality professional skills training for medical, midwifery, nursing and community practitioners in Africa

Essential Obstetric (Mother) and Newborn Care (EONC) courses were introduced into South Sudan over the last 3 years.

To date 146 South Sudan health professionals – 49 doctors, 16 clinical officers and 73 midwives and 8 midwifery tutor have attended the ELSSA EONC courses and have gained additional knowledge and skills.   The value of EONC courses is established beyond question, pre- and post-course assessments show significant increases in knowledge and skills. Increasing the neonatal resuscitation skills will alone save many lives.

It can be estimated that an EONC attendee (midwife, clinical assistant, doctor) will provide care for 7-10,000 maternities in a 30-year career.  So, this means that the attendees for each course may be responsible for about 210,000 maternities over their careers.

Even if these figures are over estimated by 50% it still represents excellent value for money.  Should this EONC training contribute to South Sudan reducing its horrendous maternal mortality to the average of the Sub-Saharan African states this would represent an enormous saving of life and improvement in basic services.   

• Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, with postgraduate education and teaching skills
• Specialist midwives with both Academic/teaching and service skills
• Specialist Neonatal nurses and Specialist Neonatal Nurse trainers
• Specialist Neonatologists with postgraduate education and teaching skills

All the ELSSA volunteers are experienced clinicians and Postgraduate teachers.  As Volunteers the ELSSA team provide an extensive specialist resource at minimal cost i.e. expenses incurred only.

‘Do an operation save a life; TEACH an operation save hundreds’

• South Sudan has some of the worst rates of Maternal and newborn deaths in Africa, an estimated 2,054 women dying for every 100,000 births (UNDP, WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2014). (7000 times worse than the UK – 0.3 per 100,00 births) 
  

  “In South Sudan a woman has more chance of dying in childbirth than finishing secondary school”

• Fewer than one in five women gives birth with a trained midwife present, and
• Six in every 100 (6%) babies do not survive to their first birthday. (i.e. 6000 per 100,000 in Souths Sudan compared to UK 7 per 100,000 – 7 times worse)

Despite considerable efforts by many agencies the Maternal Mortality rate has stagnated at this unacceptably high level. The long war for independence, the recent inter-tribal conflict has resulted in immense problems of internally displaced persons/refugees.  These have resulted in poor regional infrastructure and a very fragile health care system largely dependent on International Aid Organisations.

There are insufficient medical and nursing staff to cope with the demands and so organised post graduate or in-service training has been virtually non-existent.