By Anthony Newman Leevay
With Bo District having recorded more than 100 cases of the coronavirus, there had been concerns that all the cases have had to be taken to Freetown or Lungi. The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) has now come to the rescue by refurbishing and repurposing the children’s hospital with 34 beds to serve as a treatment and isolation centre.
They have also refurbished a unit at the Go Government Hospital with nine beds to admit health workers who test positive for the virus. So for the first time since the first case was recorded in the district on 3 May, there is now somewhere to admit them within the district.
On Thursday 2 July they handed over the facilities to President Julius Maada Bio at an impressive ceremony in Bo. The OSIWA Country Officer, Joe Hindovei Pemagbi said they had decided to recondition and equip the facilities because they were “convinced that the devastating corona virus can only be defeated with concerted, cooperative and inclusive effort, involving every strand of society, no matter who you are, where you are, what you do, your group loyalty, or your professional mandate”.
He said Covid19 had no boundary and did not discriminate with hardly any meaningful development activities possible when the virus was on the rampage. “So supporting government to conquer it must be everyone’s priority”.
Pemagbi also said that the establishment of the centres would help solve “the expensive, tortuous and time-consuming challenges” of having to take patients to other parts of the country for care.
“Also, as healthcare experts tell us, people in desperate, anxious and uncertain health situations are more confident and mentally stronger to fight the disease when they are close to their loved ones” he said.
OSIWA is also supporting a similar intervention at the Government Hospital in Kambia , northern Sierra Leone, he added. He said OSIWA was also sponsoring public education programmes such as radio jingles, to demystify the disease and encourage the public to practise the recommended safety measures “as the most reliable defense against the scourge for now”. They are also supporting advocacy for the protection of the rights of women and children.
“We applaud the President’s proactive and visionary leadership in this struggle; we commend NaCOVERC for their professionalism; and of course, we can never thank our healthcare workers enough for their sacrifice for us to live,” he said.
While commissioning the facilities, President Julius Maada Bio thanked OSIWA for their intervention, calling it “proactive and speedy support in rehabilitating.
“They have considerably strengthened our capacity to respond to the ravaging menace of COVID-19.These facilities are concrete and enduring interventions that will outlive Corona and boost our healthcare infrastructure”, the president said.
He went on: “As a Government and country, we deeply appreciate OSIWA’s work in promoting human rights; eradicating Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV); supporting community-based justice mechanisms implemented by the legal aid board and civil society partners; promoting accountability; and facilitating the active participation of citizens in governance processes. My Government looks forward to deepening its partnership with OSIWA as we strive to establish the Peace and National Cohesion Commission. Thank you, OSIWA”.
He said “Enhancing the capacity of healthcare personnel goes beyond simply recruiting and training nurses and other healthcare professionals. It is about making them more efficient in speedily and accurately diagnosing and treating disease conditions presented to them. We also believe that in the absence of accurate diagnosis, the health, and possibly, lives of patients are at grave risk,” he said.
The President said that diagnostic testing was central to disease surveillance and could be the basis for reliable data on disease prevalence or disease burdens in specific geographical locations. He said the data could help government make evidence-based decisions on allocating resources, distributing medical supplies, training staff, locating healthcare infrastructure, providing health education, and making high-quality treatment available to citizens.
“I am therefore pleased to announce that my Government will be expanding access to diagnostic testing at all regional and district hospitals and eventually to all PHUs by providing laboratory equipment,” he said, adding that his government had also stressed the importance of professionalism in the healthcare profession.
“I come from a profession in which the wearing of uniforms fosters strong esprit d’corps, pride and confidence in the profession, and confidence to live up to the highest standards and expectations. My Government believes that wearing uniforms in the healthcare professions will foster that professional identity and thus lead to greater pride in the profession and greater confidence in performing duties. The professional outlook of healthcare staff in identical uniforms will enhance the trust and confidence that patients and their family members have in the healthcare staff.
"My Government, therefore, believes that to promote professionalism, we should reintroduce and strengthen a uniform wearing policy for healthcare practitioners especially nurses. Under the resilient health systems strengthening and sustainability programme concluded by the Ministries of Finance and Health, my Government will henceforth provide two sets of cadre-specific uniforms for every nurse. I repeat, my Government will provide nurses (CHOs, CHAs, Midwives etc.) with two sets of uniforms free of charge. This will be sustained and replicated throughout the country," he assured.
The President also acknowledged the work of World Vision International for their community-based primary health care interventions with a focus on maternal, new-born, and child health that had kept thousands of mothers and children alive.
Minister of Health and Sanitation, Professor Alpha Tejan Wurie, spoke of the numerous reforms the New Direction government was already undertaking to improve healthcare delivery, adding that they had made so many strides in building a reliable healthcare service in the country.
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