Health facilities are constrained to access to pipe borne water and electricity, medical supplies and drugs, immunization vaccine, nutritional services for under-five children and accommodation, according to a report by Health Alert Sierra Leone.
This disclosure was made by the organisation during an accountability forum on the health sector in Bombali and Tonkolili districts recently.
Health Alert is a network of civil society and human rights advocacy group established to advocate, educate and inform people on health issues, health hazards and health care service delivery in Sierra Leone. It also seeks to promote the interest and rights of vulnerable and marginalized categories of people especially women and children in various communities to access quality and affordable health care services and ensure their human rights are respected and protected.
The Executive Director of Health Alert, Victor Lansana Koroma said that their findings were made following an investigation which was conducted from December 2020 to February 2021, focusing on the implementation of healthcare delivery in the Public Health Units (PHUs) in Bombali and Tonkolili districts.
He stated that Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, adding that teenage pregnancy is dominant and teenage death accounted for 25 percent of total maternal deaths in the country.
“During our findings, we realized that there were lot of inconsistencies in the quality of care provided and inadequate resources in the health facilities,” Koroma said.
He advised government to commit itself in improving the quality of healthcare services in the country by providing essential basic needs in health facilities including drugs, accommodation and water.
Lansana Koroma said Government should ensure that they provide infrastructure and effective emergency referral system, and provide skill training for health workers.
Koroma mentioned that during their investigation, they found out that the health facilities are constrained with ambulances, and most facility do not have access to refrigerator to freeze vaccines thus causing them to solicit cooling services to facilities with refrigerator.
He cited that lactating mothers and pregnant women complained that when they solicit service from health facilities they were asked to pay for services which were supposed to be free, adding that the attitude of nurses could be a contributing factor to the increase in deaths at the districts.
“If Sierra Leone has improved health facility more than half of maternal deaths could have been averted,” he said.
Program Manager for Health Alert, Dalton John said that they observed that hospitals are still in the habit to supply drugs using ‘push method’ which he said poses challenge to reach health Units.
He said that inadequate beds in units is also a challenge.
He said that nurses in charge of a particular facility informed them that they personally provide EDSA top-up for meters in their units.
By George M.O. Williams
24/02/2021. ISSUE NO: 8008