Concord Times (Freetown)
Regina Pratt
20 November 2008
Freetown — The deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation, Hon. Sheku Tejan Koroma, has said that pregnant women should pay delivery fees after they have delivered their babies.
Usually, pregnant women must pay the fees before they deliver. Many pregnant women choose not to go to hospitals to deliver because they don't have money for the fees. This leads to some women dying during childbirth.
Koroma made this statement as chairman during the opening ceremony Monday November 17 on the role of Traditional and Religious Leaders on Maternal Mortality Reduction in Sierra Leone, held at the Bank of Sierra Leone Complex, Kingtom.
He said this programme that women should not pay fees is sponsored by United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA), which donated drugs to prevent women from dying during delivery.
The minister further stated that the programme will start with the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital, otherwise known as Cottage Hospital, at Fourah Bay Road.
He said leaders have a critical role to play in reducing the percentage rate of 1,800 deaths per every 100,000 live births.
He called on the participants to deliberate on how maternal mortality can be minimized and to develop a plan of action to reduce the problem.
"Communities have remarkable trust in their leaders," he said, adding that the role they play in the lives of the pregnant women can make substantial reduction in maternal mortality.
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