By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
At the signing of the Ministry's performance contract, the Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby said that the ministry will construct a national cancer diagnostic and treatment centre and five regional hospitals.
He said the Ministry’s core function in President Julius Maada Bio’s priorities for 2024 is to reduce the maternal mortality rate by 20% from 443 (four hundred and forty-three) deaths per 100,00 (one hundred thousand) live births through increased coverage of antenatal 4th visit, increased coverage of fatality delivery and reduced prevalence of anemia.
He added that in the current year, the ministry aims to reduce infant mortality by 25% from 75 deaths per 1,000 (one thousand) live births through increased coverage of vaccination and reduction of malnutrition among under-five children.
Dr. Demby pointed out that the life expectancy in Sierra Leone will be increased from 54 to 61 years through the reduction in the prevalence of malaria cases in the country. He also said that the Ministry will increase health worker density from 17 to 25 per 10,000 (ten thousand) population through the recruitment of additional 5,000 (five thousand) health workers across the country; review and implementation of Human Resources for Health (HRH) Retention Policy.
The minister also promised to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on health from 50.4% to 48% through the implementation of the Sierra Leone Health Insurance Scheme (SLeSHI). He said 1,500 (one thousand, five hundred) jobs will be created or facilitated for youths through project activities, Health Service Commission recruitment, field surveys, and apprentices .
Consequent to the availability of resources, Minister Demby emphasized that the health ministry will seeks to either implement or oversee the rehabilitation of 12 government hospitals.
He reiterated that the ministry will be committed to the achievement of key managerial targets and indicators like improving domestic revenue generation for the ministry and its agencies to the tune of 80 million US dollars and ensuring compliance with budgetary level and its regulations by 85% “for managerial and operational efficiency.”
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