Bribery hinders Sierra Leone’s partial free healthcare initiative – report

Dr Brima Kargbo, Sierra Leone's Chief Medical Officer

By Kemo Cham

The first report on Sierra Leone’s anti bribery campaign has exposed how bribery is hindering the progress of the government’s highly praised partial health insurance scheme targeting vulnerable members of society.

The ‘Pay No Bribe (PNB)’ implemented by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) with donor support found that 1, 258 people reported to have been forced to pay bribery to access the services for the free healthcare between October and December 2016.

The report released last week was the first of the UK-funded initiative launched last year which was designed to tackle corruption in the public service. The project which is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) uses technology to fight what is said to be the largest form of corruption in the country.

Sierra Leone launches week long mass Polio immunization campaign

A health volunteer administers vaccine on a child outside Freetown

By Kemo Cham

Sierra Leone on Friday kick started a five day nationwide mass immunization campaign against Poli. The exercise dubbed the National Immunisation Days is part of a synchronized sub regional initiative funded by the World Health Organization and other development partners.

In Sierra Leone 1.5 million children within the age bracket of 0-59 months are being targeted through a door to door exercise by hundreds of health workers deployed across the country.

Polio is a viral disease that usually affects children and often causes paralysis and deaths. It is a highly contagious disease which the world is trying hard to eradicate.

Sierra Leone’s Health Ministry raises alarm over Lassa Fever re-emergence

Rodents like the rat transmit the Lassa Fever Virus

By Kemo Cham

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone has warned over the re-emergence of the deadly Lassa Fever disease in the east of the country and urged locals against practices that put them at risk.

Four people have been reported dead as a result of the disease between January and February this year. The victims were from a village called Panguma in the Lower Barbara Chiefdom in the eastern Kenema district, a region known to be endemic of the disease.

Like the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, Lassa Fever is also a haemorrhagic fever disease and victims exhibits similar symptoms of organ damage and eventually death.

Lassa is contracted via food or household items contaminated with rodent excrement. Medical authorities say the disease is in every part of the country, with the exception of the Western Area, which include the capital Freetown. But the virus is known to be endemic to the eastern region, particularly Kenema, where a world class laboratory to test for the virus has been in existence prior to the outbreak of the 2014 Ebola epidemic that ravaged West Africa.

Sierra Leone hosts confab on prevention of nuclear materials misuse

By Kemo Cham

Sierra Leone is hosting its first Stakeholders meeting of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) material Risk Mitigation. The conference which began on Thursday is organized by the European Union Center of Excellence.

CBRN materials are found in biological agents and equipments used in industries. Officials say while they create fear in people, they do have beneficial use to mankind, hence the need to discuss how to handle them.

Josephus Kongo, Executive Secretary of CBRN Risk Mitigation in Sierra Leone, said while CBRN materials are used for socioeconomic development, they can also be misused for malicious purposes by terrorists. The confab, he added, would discuss how to avoid getting such materials in the hands of bad people.

Over 2,000 people die of cancer every year in Sierra Leone

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] A United Nations experts’ investigation has revealed a worrying trend of cancer prevalence in Sierra Leone, with an annual death rate of over 2, 000 people.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say estimated 3,000 people develop cancer each year in the country which lacks the capacity and resources to diagnose or provide care for victims. Much of the cancer cases in the country are preventable or curable if discovered early, the agency said as part of the findings of an assessment conducted last month.

Cancer refers to a group of diseases that result from abnormal growth of body cells. Some of these are caused by nuclear radiation.

The IAEA, the UN agency that coordinates global efforts to ensure cooperation in the nuclear field, seeks to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies in this regard. In December an IAEA team embarked on a mission to review Sierra Leone’s cancer control capacity at the request of the government with the goal of providing recommendations ahead of the creation of a national cancer control strategy.

The mission, known as imPACT reviews, is usually the first step a member state is expected to take to understand the scope of its cancer burden, which is crucial in the development of a national cancer control strategy.

Interview: Statistician Professor Osman Sankoh

Professor Osman Sankoh

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] Professor Osman Sonkoh is a Sierra Leonean born scientist and Executive Director of the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and their Health [INDEPTH Network].

INDEPTH, which is headquartered in Ghana, is a network of health and demographic surveillance systems (HDSSs) and it seeks to provide a more complete picture of the health status of communities.
The network currently has presence in 20 countries across Africa, Asia and the pacific.

In this interview with Politico, the Njala University and German trained renowned statistician talks about his origin, academic journey and his effort to have Sierra Leone join the INDEPTH network.

Sankoh, fondly called Mallam O by his friends and colleagues, also talked about the importance of research to not just academic development but also to influence policy changes for national development.

The interview was conducted in Freetown during his last visit to the country towards the end of November.

Please read on.

Sierra Leone: Health ministry inaugurates teaching hospital board

 

A small health post in the west end of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown

By Kemo Cham

The Ministry of Health in Sierra Leone has inaugurated the University Teaching Hospital Complex Board to oversee the operation of the recently established Teaching Hospital Administration Complex (UTHAC).

The UTHAC, which came into existence through the Teaching Hospitals Complex Administration Act 2016, is an initiative designed by the government to boost medical teaching with practical experience.

Teaching hospitals are affiliated with medical schools and provide specialized medical care to patients, as well as clinical education and training for doctors, nurses and other health professionals.

Six major hospitals nationwide were designated teaching hospitals by the piece of legislation which also created the Board with an oversight responsibility over the administration of the teaching hospitals.

The women’s rights activist, Dr Nemata Majeks-Walker, is chairing the board, while Nigerian Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology, Jesse Abiodun Ortegbayo, has been named Chief Medical Director of Teaching Hospitals Administration Complex.

Officials say the establishment of the UTHAC is part of ongoing

Sierra Leone: Government inaugurates over 40 upgraded health facilities

 

The high table during the official launching ceremony in Kenema

By Kemo Cham

Efforts to cut down on the rate of maternal and infant deaths in Sierra Leone have received a major boost with the inauguration of a nationwide rehabilitation work on health facilities.

The EU-funded project launched last year involved the expansion and rehabilitation of 47health structures across 11 of the 14 districts nationwide. The facilities include paediatric wards, major hospitals, as well as district medical stores.

The project initially launched last December is valued at EUR 23 million. It is implemented by the UN children’s agency, UNICEF. Details of it entails upgrading three major health facilities to enable

Sierra Leone launches five-year health promotion strategy

By Kemo Cham

The Ministry of Health and partners in Sierra Leone have launched a new five-year National Health Promotion Strategy designed to strengthen health services delivery in the country.

The strategy, done with the support of the USAID-funded Health Communication Capacity Collaborative of Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, details the national health promotion priorities of the country for the period 2017 - 2021. Officials say it is geared towards reducing the disease burden in the country, with particular focus on maternal mortality.

According to a joint statement published by the Ministry of Health and USAID, on Thursday, the strategy entails six objectives: Strengthening health