By Mabinty M. Kamara
In a bid to help fight against malaria in Sierra Leone, the United States government, through its embassy in the country, has handed over 290, 000 doses of malaria medicines to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
The drugs, which were handed over to officials of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the National Malaria Control Programme on Thursday 18th June, is part of the United States President’s Malaria initiative (PMI), led by USAID, which provides US$15 Million towards the prevention and treatment of Malaria in Sierra Leone.
The Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr Alpha T. Wurie, expressed appreciation to the US government for the support in fighting Malaria, especially coming at a time when the Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the procurement and shipment of many health care commodities.
"As the raining season approaches, that is the time we tend to have an increase in the occurence of malaria, but because of Covid-19, this time we are not in position to bring in the drugs on time. The essence of the drug is very critical. Through PMI programme, the American Ambassador was able to ship in the drugs approved from under 12 months to five years, along with tents, to contain the malaria disease,” DR Wurie said, adding that over 50% of the bed nets supplied were from the embassy, through the same project.
In her statement during the presentation, US Ambassador Maria Brewer noted that Malaria remained one of the biggest threats to the health of Sierra Leoneans and that it has been an impediment to the socio-economic development of the country. She added that infants, young children and pregnant women remained the most vulnerable to malaria infection and death.
“This year, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the manufacturing, procurement and shipment of many health care commodities, causing worldwide and localised shortages of essential health commodities like the artemisinin-based combination therapy (known as ACT) used to treat malaria. This delay could have caused a stock-out of critical malaria commodities just as the country entered peak malaria transmission season in June," she noted, adding that it was on that note that the US government and its implementing partners shifted the delivery time by at least three months to get the drugs delivered at this crucial moment.
Copyright © 2020 Politico Online
