SSHIA Opens Regional Training Hub in Wau

JUBA — The South Sudan Health Informatics Association has officially opened its first regional training hub in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal, a landmark investment that brings certified health informatics training within reach of practitioners across the greater Bahr el Ghazal region. Previously, all of the association’s classroom training was delivered from Juba, requiring long and costly travel for health workers from the north-western states — a barrier that regional enrolment data showed was suppressing participation precisely where training needs were greatest.

The Wau hub is hosted in a dedicated training suite equipped with solar power backup, a computer laboratory, printed training materials and reliable connectivity for DHIS2 practice environments. It will deliver the association’s full certified curriculum — DHIS2 fundamentals, data quality assurance, mobile data collection, data analysis and use, and health data ethics — on a rotating quarterly schedule, taught by a team of trainers drawn from the region itself and certified through the association’s trainer-of-trainers pathway. The hub also serves as a venue for regional mentorship gatherings, knowledge base clinics and continuing professional development sessions for alumni.

Regional trainers were deliberately prioritised. Beyond reducing delivery costs, the association’s experience shows that participants learn best from instructors who understand their operating reality — the counties, the languages, the supervision structures and the specific data challenges of the Bahr el Ghazal states. The inaugural trainer cohort completed their certification last month, and the first public course, DHIS2 Fundamentals, opens for enrolment through the association’s Apply for Training page within the coming weeks, with fee waivers available for government facility staff.

The hub’s opening was made possible through contributions from institutional members and partner agencies, and the association publicly thanked every supporter. A second regional hub for the greater Upper Nile region is in advanced planning, with site assessment already underway. The association’s commitment, its leadership reiterated, is that by the end of the strategic plan period, no health worker should need to travel more than one day’s journey to reach certified training — because a national professional association must be present where its members work.