Afrigather Freetown – Twenty-five-year-old Yainkain Sesay is anticipating her first baby. Earlier than her first antenatal go to to King Harman Maternity and Youngster Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital metropolis, she was anxious. “After I visited the hospital earlier than I used to be pregnant, it was onerous as a result of I could not afford to pay for all of the remedy,” she says. However when she returned this time, she was pleasantly stunned. “The well being providers listed below are good and I really feel secure. They do not ask for cash and so they present good remedy. Pregnant girls like me are handled properly.”
The change that Sesay has skilled is because of persevering with efforts by authorities to advertise the proper to well being for all individuals within the nation. A brand new technique, developed by the Authorities of Sierra Leone with assist from World Well being Group (WHO) and launched in Could 2023, goals to entrench a people-centred life phases method to well being care, strengthening well being programs and advancing the nation in the direction of common well being protection (UHC).
“The person-centred life phases method seeks to offer holistic one-stop take care of shoppers, by integration of providers and mechanisms. It requires funding in main well being care programs to offer well being promotion, illness prevention, healing, rehabilitative and palliative providers in any respect life phases, leaving nobody behind,” explains Dr Austin Demby, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Well being.
Based on information from WHO, in 2021 the UHC service protection index in Sierra Leone was 41 out of 100, a medium rating. The service protection index makes use of a number of indicators to characterize general protection of important well being providers throughout your entire inhabitants in a rustic, ranked from zero (worst) to 100 (finest) and is used to measure progress in the direction of the Sustainable Improvement Objectives associated to UHC. Sierra Leone’s has nearly tripled since 2000, when it was ranked very low at 14 out of 100. The nation has made efforts to enhance well being providers amid challenges together with the devastating Ebola outbreak in 2014 and the COVID-19 pandemic, which stretched the well being system to the restrict.
This enchancment is partly because of Authorities’s free well being take care of pregnant girls, lactating moms and under-5 youngsters since 2010. With the brand new technique, authorities goals to speed up progress in the direction of its formidable 2030 aim, which is that every one individuals in Sierra Leone can have equitable entry to high quality and inexpensive well being providers with none undue monetary hardship.
The method is being rolled out to cowl the entire nation. The Group Well being Officer on the Waterloo Group Well being Centre in Freetown, Emmanuel Marcathy, says that previously 12 months the centre has made vital modifications which are encouraging sufferers again in giant numbers.
“One of many key points we recognized was the inadequacy of the amenities to assist sufferers. We targeted on bettering workers angle and upskilled nurses in numerous scientific procedures. The free well being care programme is prospering in our facility, with constant drug provides, significantly for individuals like under-5 youngsters, pregnant girls and lactating moms,” he says.
Mariama Bah, a midwife at King Harman Maternity and Youngster Hospital, is grateful to witness the intensive infrastructure modifications and repairs that she says have remodeled care. Amongst these are improved drug availability and testing capability, enough beds and improved assist, particularly for pregnant girls.
“Over the previous two years within the new constructing, the hospital proudly recorded zero maternal deaths, reflecting our dedication to high quality well being care, regardless of the challenges we face,” Bah says.
The nation has taken different steps to place coverage into motion. In Could 2023, the federal government labored intently with WHO to conduct a Common Well being Preparedness Evaluation, a course of designed to bolster well being emergency preparedness and response, whereas concurrently constructing well being system capability to ship high quality common well being care. One of many suggestions of the evaluation was to ascertain a nationwide public well being company, a pivotal step within the nation’s journey in the direction of UHC. Seven months later, in December 2023, the nation launched the company, a foundational establishment that may present science-based management, experience and coordination for public well being efforts.
Commending the Authorities of Sierra Leone for the numerous achievements in bettering well being and well-being for the reason that 2014 Ebola outbreak, WHO Consultant in Sierra Leone, Dr Harmless Nuwagira, is upbeat concerning the progress being made. “Authorities is dedicated to the method. We’ve seen outstanding change, high-level dedication and associate collaboration,” he says. “WHO will proceed to assist the federal government in the direction of assembly the set targets as we advance to the 12 months 2030.”
It has been an extended and complicated means of figuring out gaps and strengths, and this has translated into many alternatives for enchancment, says Dr Demby. “We should guarantee the supply of robust programmes all through the life course, whereas superimposing on {that a} system for early detection and efficient response to outbreaks and emergencies. These are all of the hallmarks of the common well being protection,” he says.
For customers like Sesay, the modifications have led to a way of peace for the longer term. “Since I registered on the hospital as a pregnant girl, I’ve by no means regretted it. I look ahead to delivering right here safely,” she says.
