September 30, 2021
BY MOHAMED M. SESAY
The United Nations International Children Educational Fund (UNICEF) Representative to Sierra Leone, Dr. Suleiman Braimoh has yesterday the 28th of September 2021, handed over $6.2 million worth of medical equipment to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. The medical equipment are going to benefit ten major districts across the country.
According to UNICEF Representative Dr. Suleiman Braimoh, the support came through the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) under the project entitled, “Strengthening COVID-19 Response and Essential Health Services in Sierra Leone”, which has been earmarked to help prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 and strengthen essential health services in Sierra Leone.
Dr. Braimoh highlighted some of the items procured, which include pharmaceuticals, oxygen therapy and other medical devices and instruments, PPE, generator sets, mosquito nets.
He added that the support is geared towards the continued functioning of the country health facilities.
“We believe that these items are instrumental in making the country fully prepared for response to the potential future waves of COVID-19 or any other disease outbreak and for continuity of essential services in such occasions,” he said.
The UNICEF Country Representative further intimated that the global data trend shows that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and the cases continue to be detected in Sierra Leone. He added that experience with the third wave also tells the country that there is still a need to sustain the COVID-19 response, including accelerating vaccination efforts along with other containment measures to prevent further spread of the viruses.
While strengthening the resilience to prepare for the possible future waves, Dr. Braimoh noted UNICEF welcomes the support from the International Development Bank (IDB) which contributes to strengthening Sierra Leone’s health delivery system at this point of the country’s Response to the pandemic.
In a country like Sierra Leone where maternal and child mortality remain high and preventable illnesses such as malaria, he acknowledged that acute respiratory illnesses and diarrhoea diseases are still responsible for nearly half of under-five deaths, disruptions in essential health and nutrition services due to COVID-19 can have detrimental effects.
He revealed that data collected was released in 2020 by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi and the Sabin Vaccine Institute, which indicated that the provisions of routine immunization services have been substantially hindered at a global scale by the COVID-19 outbreak. He added that such disruption of services will reverse the gains they have had in maternal and child health in the previous years.
While addressing the teams from UNICEF, the Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Amara Jambai commended UNICEF and Islamic Development Bank for the tremendous efforts in procuring over $6.2 million worth of medical equipment for the ministry. He said the process for buying those medical equipment was a journey that started two-years ago. “A journey we started about two-year ago and we are just about now to reap the fruit of our labour. Two-year ago we went into a partnership with ISDB to boost the ministry with equipment worth over $6.2 million” he said.
Minister Jambai added that there would be a time when the country would have enough to really equip hospitals in the way the nation would be proud of having good health care service delivery in the country. He thanked UNICEF and encouraged them to continue supporting the ministry in its drives.