By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) has officially taken charge of coronavirus responsibilities from the National COVID-19 Emergency Response Centre (NaCOVERC).
The Ministry in a release thanked the NaCOVERC staff and all their international partners for the excellent services they have rendered to the nation over the past two years. The threat of COVID-19 was said to have been a major concern to Sierra Leone and the world at large.
MOHS anticipated that, by transitioning response to the pandemic to them, COVID-19 services will be seamlessly integrated into their routine healthcare delivery services. It noted that the knowledge and experience acquired, the investments made and the assets available from NaCOVERC would now be used to not only respond to COVID-19 but also continue to strengthen the healthcare system.
The statement added that every effort will be made to maintain national resilience while noting that, there will be strong coordination and collaboration with all stakeholders involved. The Ministry noted that they will continue to operate an Incident Management System with an active Situation Room and all the relevant programmatic pillars.
‘’As we rebuild a resilient healthcare system in the middle of a pandemic, we want to underscore a whole-of-government approach that includes all line ministries working with our development partners and civil society to ensure that all of our pre-pandemic gains in the health sector are not lost,’’ said minister of health Dr. Austin Demby.
He reminded the public that the COVID-19 pandemic was not yet over and urged everyone to continue wearing a face mask, maintain hand hygiene, practice social distancing, and be fully vaccinated.
The release climaxed the handing over process which has been discussed for the past six months since the pandemic subsided.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (29/06/22)
