10 August 2010 – Some 23 health workers graduated in Wau today after a three-month refresher training course, boosting local efforts to improve medical care in Western Bahr El- Ghazal State.

During the ceremony held at Mary Help Training Centre for Nurses and Health Workers in Western Bahr El-Ghazal, Centre Director Gracy Adichirayil thanked the state's ministry of health, UNMIS Kenyan contingent medical team, the Sudan Red Crescent and Danish Red Cross for their support.

"We are happy today as we graduate these qualified health workers who will be of great help to people of Southern Sudan," the director said.

The course targeted certified nurses from Wau Teaching Hospital and community health workers from primary health centers across the state.

"These community health workers will now go back to their respective centers of assignment to implement what they have learned," said Ms. Adichirayil said.

Representing the state governor Brigadier Rizig Zachariah, State Minister of Information and Broadcasting Baptist Sebit lauded the role the centre and UNMIS' Kenyan contingent had played in developing area healthcare.

"Besides its mandate to keep peace, the Kenyan Battalion 19 is tasked to reach out to the local population and give them humanitarian service," said UNMIS Wau Commander Col. Johnson Ondieki. The colonel added that the Kenyan Contingent was committed to supporting the centre in provision of healthcare.

The health workers are the second group to have graduated from the centre, which was established in 2006. They were re-trained in areas like mother and child health care, HIV/Aids, immunization, communicable diseases and public hygiene.

Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of Wau Catholic Church stressed the importance of health care and urged the students to dedicate themselves to their work.