Deputy Health Minister welcomes MamaYe and commits to Safe Clinics!

Hon. Foday Lahai Sawi, Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), confirmed his support to mothers and babies at the launch of MamaYe in Freetown last month. In his remarks, Hon. Sawi reiterated the Government’s support to maternal and newborn health: “Since becoming President, these same issues have remained very dear to HE the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma”. Commending the work of the Government and its partners, Hon. Sawi stated: “That the Sierra Leone government is one of the front runners in Africa in its attention to and commitment to tackling the health problems of women and children is now no news.” However, more needs to be done. In order to continue building on recent accomplishments, Hon. Sawi stressed the need for the Government and its partners to “ensure the availability of adequate staff with the requisite skills, sustained availability of drugs at service delivery points, effective blood and laboratory services, availability of good quality equipment to health care personnel, effective referral systems, and proper sanitation at the centers”. According to Hon. Sawi, “these are the same issues that HE [President Koroma] wants to see accomplished in the realization of the Agenda for Prosperity, and I can assure you all, as an integral member of the Government Team at the MoHS that these are the same issues we have set ourselves to aggressively tackle.” Citing the Facility Improvement Team (FIT) assessment system as an example of fruitful collaboration (where MamaYe provided technical support in the visualization of data to the DfID-funded RCH programme), the Deputy Minister listed mobile health as another area where future collaboration with MamaYe may arise – most specifically, in the fields of operations research, digital data platform establishment, and the overall advocacy to beneficiaries and partners to make it effective and efficient.