Dear Government of Sierra Leone,
Our Agenda For Prosperity is Failing to keep our pregnant women and children from dying in Sierra Leone! This is evident in the number of women and children who continue to meet their demise during childbirth. ACTUALLY THE WORST IN THE WORLD.
I would like to applaud you for the work that has been done for the last 15 years to address the issues of maternal death in this country. However, as a concerned citizen of this great nation I refuse to be a hypocrite!
The recent report on maternal and child mortality depicting this country as the worst place to be a pregnant woman and a baby is frankly SHAMEFUL.
It is true that our Minister of Health and Sanitation categorically refutes a recent UN report on the country’s maternal mortality indices which suggest that it is as high as over 1,000 women deaths out of 100,000 live births but can you explain to the nation why we have the world’s highest MMR rates 1,100 per 100,000 LIVE BIRTHS according to WHO’s recent report and I BET YOU the DHS 2013 (if not fingered) will possibly be the same!
All of this, despite the BIG BIG investment in health from mostly the international community. So I NEED to ask, what have the women and children in this country done to deserve this Neglect? Is this because our health care system is not fit for the purpose? Or is it because medical personnel are not competent? Or is it because you have not equipped the hospitals with the necessary tools to have them carry out their work properly? Or is it because you just do not care about the health of pregnant women and children in this country?
What is government doing to address the issue?
I appreciate the free health care initiative and think it is a good system if it operates well. But how can you implement a free health care initiative with insufficient medical commodities, insufficient skilled and competent providers and de-motivated medical staff? Can you tell me the purpose of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in the face of these deplorable statistics? The operationalisation of this ministry needs urgent review because in my estimation it is not giving the people the desired result. How can we see progress when such a crucial ministry that is responsible for our health is plagued with questionable leadership, constant in-fighting between senior officers and partisan ploys?
As a government, you find it convenient to give the Chinese unlimited access to everything that is good and great in this country, but you are unable to provide good quality health care to the pregnant women and children of this nation.
So where is the money from the sale of iron ore going to? What a ton of iron ore is sold for approximately, I am sure, can revive more hospitals in our rural areas and make them able to provide more sustainable medical equipment and drugs to carry out operations for pregnant women in our hospitals.
The country is said to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world, so why are pregnant women still dying? Why are our hospitals not equipped to carry out basic medical intervention?
You wouldn’t want a female member of your family to die during child birth because the health care system is in disarray, would you? Well, the present government, if it is not good enough for you, be rest assured that it will not be good enough for our people either.
What are countries like Liberia doing that we are not? We have of course experienced same civil unrest, so we should not be lagging behind them when it comes to addressing maternal health.
Just in case you did not know, the health of a pregnant woman is a strong indicator of development (remember MCC?) and Sierra Leone is the worst in the world. So I dare to ask: When we go to the World Health Assembly in Geneva this week, what cover-ups do we have under our sleeves? What story about the state of Sierra Leone’s maternal health will we tell the world?
I end by saying…I pledge my love and loyalty to my country Sierra Leone; I vow to serve her faithfully at all times; I promise to defend her honour and her good name; Always work for her unity, peace freedom and prosperity; And put her interest above all else; So help me God, So help me God.
Yours faithfully,
Concerned Citizen
Cc:
President of Sierra Leone
Vice President of Sierra Leone
Minister of Health and Sanitation
(C) Politico 22/05/14
