Sudanese Community Research Articles

المعتقدات السودانية في الشعر السوداني

In any community, beliefs are formed according to ideological, historical, political, intellectual, social and environmental changes. Hence, the research aims at unmasking the role of these changes in forming beliefs in the Sudan and, thereof, showing the way they are reflected in Sudanese poetry. Accordingly, the problem of the research consists inherently in the following question: to what extent could the Sudanese poets highlight Suda- nese beliefs in their own poetry? In this context, a group of Sudanese poets have highlighted the images of those Sudanese beliefs which are distinguished from the beliefs of other countries. In this regard, the Sudanese poets are obviously strongly affected by the call of the late Sudanese critic, Hamza al-Malik Ṭambal (in early twentieth century), in which he called on the Sudanese poets to emancipate themselves from imitating the classic mode of old and contemporary Arab poetry. To Ṭambal, this style of the classic Arab verse has negatively impacted the Sudanese poem, the result of which is the lack of the distinctive character of the Sudanese poetry. Of the most important outcomes concluded by the researcher is that the Sudanese poets, in their portrayal of the Sudanese beliefs in their poetries, have been flagrantly been affected by the call of the Sudanese critic, Ṭambal. Therefore, the Sufi idiosyncrasy has predominantly prevailed over these images as a result of the overriding Sufi current over the Sudanese community. Likewise, before penetration of Islam into the Sudan, the indigenous Sudanese beliefs had had a clear role in forming those images, notwithstanding the incompatibility of the images to the Islamic faith. Moreover, the Sudanese social variation had its own obvious role in forming the images of those beliefs, particularly predilection for rapture and music rhythm. Also, of the ensuing outcomes, those icons came to be as closely resembling folkloric pictures

“I don’t think marijuana counts as a drug”: Drug & alcohol use amongst South Sudanese youth in Australia

Aims: To understand alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and its impact among South Sudanese youth in Melbourne, Australia. Methods: This qualitative exploratory study was underpinned by the psychosocial conceptual framework. We undertook semi-structured interviews with 23 South Sudanese youth aged 14-21 years to explore attitudes and potential harms of AOD use. We also undertook focus groups with these participants and a focus group of 11 South Sudanese community elders and parents. Feedback on results was obtained through two forums with community members. The data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The participants revealed that AOD use was common, specifically the use of cannabis. The participants believed that there was a lack of basic understanding of the potential harm of cannabis use. The results also highlighted that the community was unaware how the use of drugs and alcohol can contribute and exacerbate poor mental health. Cannabis was a regular drug of choice used by young South Sudanese in this study. It was used daily as a coping mechanism both for stress and for undiagnosed mental health. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate increased potential harm for South Sudanese youth from AOD use. Of concern was a lack of diagnosis and treatment for mental health wellbeing due to the beliefs around AOD use. Without targeted interventions this has significant implications for the South Sudanese community and the young people affected. The significance of these findings may assist in the delivery of AOD treatment and improve health education for refugee youth.

Liminality as an antidote? Ethnic organizing amongst Darfurian asylum seekers in Israel

ABSTRACT As western countries are increasingly reticent to grant refugees rights, they must turn inwards to address urgent humanitarian needs and needs for belonging. This is the case in Israel where the Darfurian Sudanese community has established ethnically constituted “community centers”. These aim to help them survive the liminal present in Israel. Initially, community centers focused on provision of humanitarian assistance; however, over time, they have increasingly engaged in cultural and linguistic reclamation. Activities such as this represent a source of personal strength and pride which anchors individuals within a liminal time and place. Based on interviews with fifty-two individuals and attendance at events, this article demonstrates that the ethnic group, as a flexible construct, can adapt to the needs of asylum seekers in a situation of liminality and that the liminal state can represent both danger and opportunity for forced migrants.

Acceptability and feasibility of strategies to shield the vulnerable during the COVID-19 outbreak: a qualitative study in six Sudanese communities

BackgroundShielding of high-risk groups from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been suggested as a realistic alternative to severe movement restrictions during the COVID-19 epidemic in low-income countries. The intervention entails the establishment of ‘green zones’ for high-risk persons to live in, either within their homes or in communal structures, in a safe and dignified manner, for extended periods of time during the epidemic. To our knowledge, this concept has not been tested or evaluated in resource-poor settings. This study aimed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of strategies to shield persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, during the COVID-19 epidemic in six communities in Sudan.MethodsWe purposively sampled participants from six communities, illustrative of urban, rural and forcibly-displaced settings. In-depth telephone interviews were held with 59 members of households with one or more members at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. Follow-up interviews were held with 30 community members after movement restrictions were eased across the country. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using a two-stage deductive and inductive thematic analysis.ResultsMost participants were aware that some people are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes but were unaware of the concept of shielding. Most participants found shielding acceptable and consistent with cultural inclinations to respect elders and protect the vulnerable. However, extra-household shielding arrangements were mostly seen as socially unacceptable. Participants reported feasibility concerns related to the reduced socialisation of shielded persons and loss of income for shielding families. The acceptability and feasibility of shielding strategies were reduced after movement restrictions were eased, as participants reported lower perception of risk in their communities and increased pressure to comply with social commitments outside the house.ConclusionShielding is generally acceptable in the study communities. Acceptability is influenced by feasibility, and by contextual changes in the epidemic and associated policy response. The promotion of shielding should capitalise on the cultural and moral sense of duty towards elders and vulnerable groups. Communities and households should be provided with practical guidance to implement feasible shielding options. Households must be socially, psychologically and financially supported to adopt and sustain shielding effectively.

Health promotion in emerging collectivist communities: A study of dietary acculturation in the South Sudanese community in Logan City, Australia.

Issue addressedUnderstanding dietary acculturation within collectivist communities is required to develop and tailor appropriate health promotion strategies to prevent diet‐related chronic diseases. This research explores the journey of the South Sudanese community living in Logan City, Australia in establishing new norms around food choices and practices over time.MethodsThree semi‐structured group interviews and a final community forum of women (n = 20) from the South Sudanese community were conducted. These explored changes in and influences on dietary practices post‐settlement. Sessions were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed using inductive and deductive approaches. Feedback on findings from participants and community members was incorporated.ResultsParticipants reported dietary acculturation phases, including assimilation, reflection and separation, with a return to traditional foods over time. Factors influencing the transition between phases included; the characteristics of the collectivist community such as shared knowledge, experiences and resources, increased accessibility to traditional foods, and increased food and health literacy as responses to emerging diet‐related health issues.ConclusionsThe Logan City South Sudanese community has navigated a new and complex food environment with positive long‐term dietary outcomes; however, the initial decline in health due to poor diet on arrival may have been prevented.So what?Early intervention and culturally appropriate health promotion strategies that are co‐designed and tailored to the characteristics and strengths of newly settled collectivist communities are needed. These should promote the benefits of healthy traditional food habits, while assisting communities to successfully navigate a new food environment.

Abuse by the Powerful? Exploring the role of media narratives and political discourse in the immigration-crime nexus

This paper considers the role of media narratives and political discourse in the immigration-crime nexus by exploring, as a case study, the recent experience of the South Sudanese community in Australia. Over recent years this cohort of relatively new arrivals have been subjected to a raft of negative media coverage and political commentary. This paper deliberates on the narrative of this African community group and their subsequent portrayal, and considers if it is both legitimate and accurate. At a time when many Australians see the benefits of immigration, this paper examines the role the media and politics plays in undermining this community sentiment, reflecting a level of abuse by the most powerful in society towards the some of the least powerful.

The Anthropologist’s Video Camera as Stage

In this article, I explore how Sudanese communities have attempted to visually document, witness and communicate a silenced history of forced displacement. Thousands of peasants in rural Northern Sudan were flooded out of their homes along the Nile during the 2003–2009 Merowe Dam construction project. My aim is to examine both the complex local interactions with and appropriations of the anthropologist’s video camera, which, in the relational process of witnessing, turned into a stage to provide audio-visual evidence against hegemonic discourses of Sudan’s successful hydroelectric future. I show how my video camera’s affordances of capturing and mediating ‘truth’ evoked specific performative genres of representation in moments of crisis and illustrate how these usages differ from everyday interactions with a video camera. These performative genres of ‘crisis witnessing’, I contend, resonate with globally distributed media realities and thereby reproduce certain practices of communication that are stereotyped in the mass media.

Financial Constraints to Entrepreneurial in Sudan: An Applied Analytical Study: المعوقات التمويلية لريادة الأعمال في السودان: دراسة تحليلية تطبيقية

The study aimed to measure the impact of the financing obstacles related to entrepreneurs on the financing obstacles related to financing institutions, and vice versa, to achieve policy recommendations that help in overcoming those obstacles that face the financing of entrepreneurial in Sudan. The study followed the descriptive and analytical approach using the multiple linear regression and A nova analysis method to estimate the study models and test the hypotheses. The study relied on primary data from a questionnaire distributed to (54) employees of entrepreneurship financing institutions in Sudan. The study recommends the necessity of restructuring and empowering institutions were working in entrepreneurship and microfinance so that to finance the operations directly by enacting new laws and legislations, reviewing existing legislation and laws, and finding a new financing formula for entrepreneurship that is compatible with the culture and legacies of Sudanese community through reviewing the legislative and legal frameworks. A coordination between entrepreneurial projects, microfinance institutions and banks, and other relevant one, also recommended. In addition to providing a database and adequate information on entrepreneurship, providing the necessary guidance and training before yielding finance and raising the level of administrative experience and awareness.

Assessment of Self Medication Practice and Drugs Storage Among South Sudanese Community in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background Self-medication (SM) can be defined as the use of drugs to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, or the intermittent or continued use of a prescribed drug for chronic or recurrent disease or symptoms. A number of individuals in developing countries do not attend physicians for their illnesses; instead they commonly use self-medication. Self-medication could be using drugs existing in home like over the counter (OCT) drugs, traditional medicine, prescription only drug. Self-medication is not always bad, hence for the over the counter drugs it is beneficial. Inappropriate storage and use of medicines at home could have a direct influence on public health, the environment and the health-care services and it increases the risk of self-medication. Objective To assess the practice of self-medication and drug storage among South Sudanese community in Addis Ababa. Materials and methods A cross sectional study design was conducted in Addis Ababa city from April 22 to April 26/2019. Data was collected by semi structure-questionnaire consisting questions on general demographic, socio-economic as well as on perceived illness/ symptoms in the past four weeks and actions taken for it. The data collected was screened before it is analyzed. Data analysis was done by using calculator. Results From the total 297 respondents 286 (96.2%) had reported self-medication in the last one month before the study period. The most common types of ailments for which the respondents reported to have practiced self-medication were cough, cold and sore throat 90(30.3%), followed by headache 66(22.2%), diarrhea 52(17.5%) ,abdominal pain 47(15.8%), fever 21(7.07%) and vomiting 10(3.3%). The reasons given for self-medication were; the illness was minor 226(76%) and previous experiences with similar ailments 31 (10.4%) were found to be the two major reasons given by the respondents for self-medication in this study. The majority of the respondents 242(81.4%) who practiced self-medication obtained information on self-medication from friends and 29(9.7%) obtained information from family members. The most frequently used group of drugs used for self-medication were analgesics/antipyretics 177(59.5%) and antimicrobial which account 75(25.2%) each followed by antihelmenthics 24(8.08%).The main source of drugs for SM was in pharmacy 220(74.07%) followed by leftover drugs 41(13.8%) while drug retail outlet, and neighbors and relatives were the suppliers to 12.13% respondents each. Conclusion and recommendation A significant number of respondents (96.2%) use S/M from those perceived illness. Majority of the self-medicated individuals used due to minor illness. The most common category of drugs used was analgesics/antipyretics and antimicrobials. And the reason reported for using S/M was minor illness and previous experience with the illness. Most of respondents obtained drugs easily from pharmacy. So, pharmacies are the major sources of drugs used for S/M. The increased of drugs storage to treat similar illness/symptom and drugs left over from previous use contribute to the increase in the S/M practice. Common drugs store reported by respondents who store modern drugs were analgesic/antipyretic. Most of the respondents stored the drug in locked cabinets. A lot is need to be done in educating the public including the health care providers on the type of illnesses that can be self-diagnosed and self-treated, the type of drugs to be used for S/M, and the proper use of drugs. During dispensing of drugs emphasis should be given to all drug consumers and dispenser because of resistance and side effects of drug is the main challenging problem even in the world. Food, Medicines and Healthcare Administration and Control Authority (FMHACA) needs to effectively implement laws on drug handling and dispensing so as to take necessary measures on illegal providers of drugs.

Perspectives of Vietnamese, Sudanese and South Sudanese immigrants on targeting migrant communities for latent tuberculosis screening and treatment in low-incidence settings: A report on two Victorian community panels.

BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) elimination strategies in Australia require a focus on groups who are at highest risk of TB infection, such as immigrants from high‐burden settings. Understanding attitudes to different strategies for latent TB infection (LTBI) screening and treatment is an important element of justifiable elimination strategies.MethodTwo community panels were conducted in Melbourne with members of the Vietnamese (n = 11), Sudanese and South Sudanese communities (n = 9). Panellists were provided with expert information about LTBI and different screening and health communication strategies, then deliberated on how best to pursue TB elimination in Australia.FindingsBoth panels unanimously preferred LTBI screening to occur pre‐migration rather than in Australia. Participants were concerned that post‐migration screening would reach fewer migrants, noted that conducting LTBI screening in Australia could stigmatize participants and that poor awareness of LTBI would hamper participation. If targeted screening was to occur in Australia, the Vietnamese panel preferred ‘place‐based’ communication strategies, whereas the Sudanese and South Sudanese panel emphasized that community leaders should lead communication strategies to minimize stigma. Both groups emphasized the importance of maintaining community trust in Australian health service providers, and the need to ensure targeting did not undermine this trust.ConclusionPre‐migration screening was preferred. If post‐migration screening is necessary, the potential for stigma should be reduced, benefit and risk profile clearly explained and culturally appropriate communication strategies employed. Cultural attitudes to health providers, personal health management and broader social vulnerabilities of targeted groups need to be considered in the design of screening programs.

Social impacts of living with chronic hepatitis B in South Sudanese community in Australia

ABSTRACT Introduction: Chronic hepatitis B presents significant issues to public health and clinical practices. The infection requires lifelong clinical management and is a leading risk factor for liver cancer and liver cirrhosis. Limited studies currently exist on the social impacts of living with chronic hepatitis B, especially for people from Sub-Saharan Africa. The current study explored the experiences of South Sudanese people living with chronic hepatitis B in Australia. Methods: A qualitative inquiry using face-to-face interviews with fifteen South Sudanese people with chronic hepatitis B in Australia explored the social impacts of living with chronic hepatitis B. The study purposively sampled participants who self-identified as South Sudanese with hepatitis B and over 18 years of age. Interviews were coded and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: The study identified three themes relating to the experiences of living with chronic hepatitis B, and were grouped into psychological, interpersonal and healthcare system levels. Psychological level experiences related to the uncertainty of living with chronic hepatitis B and liver cancer risk, where participants expressed persistent fear of disease progression and anxiety around death related to the disease. Interpersonal level experiences involved the disclosure of hepatitis B and its social impacts including stigma, social distancing and isolation. Healthcare system level experiences included receiving mixed messages about hepatitis B, challenges with regular testing and difficulty receiving hepatitis B treatment. Conclusion: The findings provide valuable insights into the social impacts of hepatitis B. It underlines the importance of integrated public health interventions at the community level to improve knowledge and awareness of hepatitis B which address stigma in the South Sudanese community in Australia.

Re-evaluating the “traditional”: How the South Sudanese use established gender narratives to advance women’s equality and empowerment

Women’s equality and empowerment are international development priorities, but are difficult to achieve. Much gender and development literature blames entrenched “traditional” gender roles and norms, using them to explain slow progress towards gender and development goals, such as girls’ and women’s education, women’s participation in public decision-making, and women’s land and property ownership. The literature often concludes that, for gender and development goals to be realized, traditional gender narratives must be challenged and changed. However, limited research examines the full range of ways in which people, who live in highly gender-unequal societies, actually use traditional gender narratives to negotiate issues of women’s empowerment and gender equality. Drawing on qualitative data collected from three rural South Sudanese communities—comprising interviews and focus groups with 94 research participants, and over five hours of community radio content—this study demonstrates that gender narratives considered to be traditional by the South Sudanese, during a post-conflict transition period, do not necessarily constitute barriers to the advancement of gender and development goals. Rather, the South Sudanese use traditional gender narratives, in this context, to both resist and support goals that the international development community prioritizes. By providing evidence that traditional gender narratives are mobilized and used by community members to support women’s equality and empowerment, this paper challenges and extends development scholarship that positions traditional narratives as barriers, and encourages development practitioners to consider how they might critically harness, rather than reject, such narratives in the pursuit of gender and development goals.

‘That’s what they say in our language: one onion, all smell’: the impact of racism on the resettlement experiences of South Sudanese women in Australia

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the impact of negative media and political depictions of the South Sudanese community on the psychological health and well-being of women from the South Sudanese community in South Australia. Interviews revealed enduring experiences of racism and discrimination that had damaging effects on participants’ sense of identity, mental health, and hope for the future. Given the focus of media attention on South Sudanese youth, participants expressed considerable anxiety about their children and future generations. The ethical implications and moral obligations as well as the importance of participatory research methods when working with vulnerable populations are also discussed.

Perspectives on Negative Media Representations of Sudanese and South Sudanese Youths in Australia

ABSTRACT Negative media representations of refugee and migrant communities can have a significant impact on members of these communities’ overall lived experiences, causing issues regarding socio-political belonging and socio-economic security. In Australia, this has become a pertinent issue for young people from Australia’s Sudanese and South Sudanese communities. In recent times, young Sudanese and South Sudanese Australians have been the subject of persistent negative media attention. Utilising a voice-centred relational methodology (VCRM) approach, this paper presents and discusses qualitative findings regarding the perspectives of Australian Sudanese and South Sudanese youths and those from the community organisation sector on these media representations. The findings of this study suggest that negative media representations of Australian Sudanese and South Sudanese youths impact the everyday lived experiences of these young people, disrupting their overall sense of belonging in Australia. Many of the young people in this study believe these lived experiences are causing serious consequences for their overall social prosperity and well-being and creating barriers for their overall success. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of these lived experiences, placing the voices of participants at the centre of the research.

Patients' cultural and spiritual explanatory models in health encounters: a focus on the efficacy of cancer prevention strategies in women from South Sudan.

This qualitative study examined non-clinical factors that affect health, namely the cultural and spiritual beliefs of the patient. The study focuses on women from South Sudan. Although the overt religious adherence of these women is familiar to mainstream Australia (i.e. Christian), they are culturally diverse from the mainstream. The experiences of five women were documented. These women, all regarded as community leaders, were also asked about their assessment of the views of the wider community of women from South Sudan. This study informs targeted health promotion messages for a significant community in Australia. It is anticipated that the findings of this research, although not generalisable to the whole South Sudanese community or to all those with a refugee background, will provide important information to guide the development of culturally appropriate health care into the future. The findings point to the need for enhanced clinical education around communication, especially in relation to understanding the patients' explanatory models of health. The findings have implications for patient education strategies. Finally, the findings reinforce the importance of engaging the community in the development of those strategies and ensuring their input into further research.

The Need for Effective Leadership for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation in Divided Societies

The Need for Effective Leadership for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation in Divided Societies David Mabior Atem Abstract South Sudan is the world‘s youngest nation born out of the conflict between the North and South. Once united in a common cause to form a state, however, the South Sudanese communities have entered into a renewed conflict and become divided communities. In 2013, South Sudanese leaders, Kiir and Riek, began an ethnic conflict. This paper will discuss the cause of the conflict and the role of leaders in fueling and solving the ethnic conflict and returning the nation to sustainable peace. The paper also highlights some of the main concerns in the renewed conflict in South Sudan and presents some recommendations for policy and practice that may be of interest to the current transitional government of national unity formed in February 2020. The IGAD and international community joined hands and launched a peace initiative that culminated in the round two of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCRSS) in September 2018. The paper is arranged in the following order, introduction, theoretical framework, cause of conflict, and role of the leaders in fueling the conflict, solving the ethnic conflict, South Sudan‘s return to peace. The paper ends with a conclusion and recommendations. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jgpc.v8n2a1

Evaluation of Job Satisfaction and Job Related Stress Among Community Pharmacists in North Khartoum and its Impact on Providing Pharmaceutical Care Services

Introduction Pharmacists and pharmaceutical care services are among the most important tools in providing health services to the society. Pharmacists as the key players in presenting health services, critically impact on the health of the society and if they suffer low job satisfaction, their dissatisfaction may relatively threaten health in the society. This study was conducted to determine Sudanese community pharmacists’ job satisfaction and additionally, some causes of dissatisfaction among community pharmacists and their impact on providing pharmaceutical care services have been evaluated. Method The questionnaire was designed after reviewing relevant Literature in addition, The Job Satisfaction survey was used to measure the level of community pharmacists’ satisfaction with their current jobs, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used to evaluate emotional experience and awareness. Results and Discussion Generally low scores of job satisfaction were concluded among pharmacists while most of them were highly satisfied with being pharmacist. Conclusion Low levels of job satisfaction which were found among Sudanese community pharmacists could be considered as a deficiency of health system in Sudan. Fortunately, inherent interest in the pharmacy profession found among Sudanese pharmacists is an optimistic point at which policy-makers could develop their modifying policies. Health policy-makers must endeavor to take other steps to issue solutions for this current problem.

The archaeology of South Sudan from c. 3000 BC to AD 1500

ABSTRACTThis paper reviews the current state of archaeological research within the boundaries of the modern country of South Sudan, with a particular focus on the period between c. 3000 BC and AD 1500. While various historical factors and more recent political unrest have long stymied concerted archaeological efforts in the region, such surveys as have been undertaken are summarised and synthesised here, most notably the four expeditions funded by the British Institute in Eastern Africa between 1977 and 1981. Though scant, the data recovered during these and other research projects point to great diversity within the archaeological record of South Sudan, highlighting the region’s importance for addressing such large-scale issues as the transition between (or indeed the co-occurrence of) Later Stone Age and Early Iron Age lifeways, including the spread of pastoralism, arable agriculture and iron-working technology from northern to eastern Africa. The region likewise appears to have been central to the occurrence of large-scale population movements during both the Early and Later Iron Ages. However, we also emphasise the relevance of the archaeology of this period for better understanding more localised trajectories of socio-cultural change, particularly for adding time-depth to historical narratives of relevance to contemporary South Sudanese communities.

The factors contributing to low schools enrollment of females in South Sudan

This aimed to describe the factors contributed to low enrollments of female in school in South Sudan; these factors are either political reason, cultural reasons. The literature reviewed were from the related information from the prior researchers, their findings has significant to the females’ enrollments, but the failure of their researches was that, they recommended to the government only on the issues on how to reduced poverty. Poverty is not affecting only females, it affect both genders, and cannot be the main factor that cause low enrollment of female. As a result this paper has found it out that, the two mains factors that affect female enrollments was the negative behaviors of the people toward female education and lack of awareness of the South Sudanese communities about the government policies of encouraging females’ education.

CARDIOVASCULAR RISK SCREENING SERVICES IN SUDANESE COMMUNITY PHARMACIES

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the Sudanese community pharmacists' knowledge and practice of cardiovascular disease risk assessment services.Methods: The study was conducted as a non-interventional, descriptive, cross sectional community-pharmacy based survey.Results: The Response rate was 91%. The obese and the elderly received the highest ratings for cardiovascular disease risk assessment. Hypertension, type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus and ages >55 and 36-55 years were mostly targeted for screening. Variable responses were reported regarding the type of fasting lipid profile that is screened. One third of the participants claimed to have screening evaluation forms. Most participants had the appropriate equipment for screening but only a few had cholesterol measures. Only 27% reported the use of cardiovascular risk charts or calculator for the evaluation. Overwhelming majority had no documentation records and the most available reference was the BNF.Conclusion: The current knowledge and practice of cardiovascular disease risk assessment is poor and need fundamental development. Community pharmacy practice in the Sudan is still product oriented. These services were provided by respondents on voluntary bases without full knowledge or appropriate training on proper assessment and evaluation of the risks that they measured. This needs to change if pharmacy’s potential is to be reached. Collaboration between health authorities and universities is essential to acknowledge the new roles of the pharmacist and provide the appropriate knowledge and training needed to promote and implement the change process that is required.