President Koroma commits to reduce maternal mortality

President Ernest Koroma declared maternal and child health a National Health Emergency at the State Opening of Parliament on 11 December 2015.

The speech made by President Ernest Koroma at the State Opening of Parliament on 11 December 2015 focused on safe clinics and his government’s commitments to making sure that mother and babies survive childbirth.

Since 2012, Evidence for Action (MamaYe campaign) has developed many evidence-based advocacy resources which have been widely shared with stakeholders, the media and communities in different platforms advocating for safe clinics and more funds as rights, not an opportunity, for the survival of mothers and babies.

President Koroma in his speech acknowledged the fact that the country needs safe and equipped health facilities to save the lives of mothers and newborns.

He told members of parliament that the first part of his government Health Sector Recovery Plan (HSRP) will be focused on ensuring that the country’s health facilities are safe for both health care workers and patients and that essential health services – particularly those related to reproductive, neonatal, maternal, and child health – are restored as quickly as possible.

All the more than 1,200 Peripheral Health Units (PHUs) and 40 Hospitals nationwide have fully resumed their operations and services to the public including the Free Health Care Initiative. Over 2500 EVD survivors have benefited from our expanded free health care. We have intensified both routine and supplementary immunisation of our children against the killer childhood diseases with very high coverage; over 1,475,000 children 0-59 months were vaccinated against Polio which represented 98.8% coverage and over 206, 000 women of child bearing age have received at least two doses of tetanus toxoid vaccine.

Our President continued to say that his government would strengthen district capacity to deliver quality services by bringing in health professionals from the African Union and Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora.

We will establish a Postgraduate Medical Training Institute to train Specialist Medical Doctors locally. The Act for the establishment of a Postgraduate Medical Training College will soon be presented to Parliament for ratification. We will continue to implement the Service Level Agreement (SLA) approach that I launched on the 4th of July this year. The SLA ensures that we know who does what, where, and with how much.

He disclosed that his government would establish the National Medical Emergency Services to provide pre-hospital care and transportation of patients to hospital and strengthen the referral system using a public-private partnership approach.

The MamaYe campaign has been advocating for electricity supply to be available in all health centres across the country. The President in his speech revealed that his government is committed to ensuring that within the next 12 months, all of our over 1,200 Peripheral Health Units have reliable solar power, a clean primary water source with submersible solar-powered pumps, and solar powered refrigerators to store essential medicines including vaccines.

The government will continue with the Free Health Care Initiative focusing on reproductive, neonatal and child health, family planning and nutrition services within the context of the revised basic package of essential health services. To make that become effective, the government will continue the free health initiative to improve the health of pregnant women, children and young mothers.

Adding to this the government has committed to allocate billions of Leones to prevent new mothers from dying during childbirth; improved salaries for health workers, and procured and supplied drugs to health centres all over the country to sustain the joy of families bringing new human life to the world.

The President in his speech also acknowledged the current maternal and child health statistics as a great challenge to his government’s efforts.To create greater urgency to addressing this tragedy,

I am declaring maternal and child health a National Health Emergency.

To make this happen, President Koroma has called on the support of development partners in helping his government to deliver these goals.   

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