Concord Times (Freetown)
Rachel Horner
26 November 2008
Freetown — Port Loko and Tonkolili districts have benefited from a ministry of health and sanitation/African Development Bank (ADB) strengthening district health services project with the donation of a consignment of essential and specialized drugs worth millions of leones.
Addressing the Port Loko community, the ADB project coordinator and director of primary health care in the ministry of health and sanitation, Dr. Alhassan Seisay said the drugs, which came as a result of government's concern to promote maternal and child health in the country, would help minimize the incidence of maternal and child mortality in the district.
He told his audience that the ministry, in partnership with the UNFPA, would be monitoring the use of the drugs, adding that more drugs are expected for both the hospitals and the peripheral health units.
Dr. Seisay intimated the people about the other benefits to be derived from the project, which included the rehabilitation of the hospital maternity ward, health centres, provision of an ambulance service, and motor bikes and bicycles. Training to enhance staff capacity building support, he said, is also another component to boost effective and efficient service delivery.
He told the meeting that the project recently sponsored the training of 10 nurses at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria to pursue tutorial course, hoping that on their return they would be able to train others locally.
Receiving the drugs, the district medical officer Port Loko, Dr. Matt Lebbie and the Port Loko district council chairman, Abdul Fofanah on behalf of the district, expressed gratitude to the government and the ADB for what they described as an invaluable humanitarian gesture.
Fofanah noted president Koroma's commitment to promoting education, agriculture, roads infrastructure, and to make available quality, accessible and affordable health care delivery services to the people of the country.
Dr. Lebbie, on behalf of the district health management team, promised to use the drugs for the intended purpose, noting that child survival and maternal health care are a priority for national development.
In a similar development at the Magburaka government hospital, district medical officer Dr. Samuel Keitell, the hospital care manager Dr. Moses Kargbo and councilor Abdul Larkoh of the Tonkolili district council, on receiving the drugs, described the gesture as a dream that they would transform into reality for the survival of their women and children.
They expressed gratitude and appreciation to the donor and the government, promising that they would use the drugs resourcefully to achieve the project's desired objective.
The project counterpart accountant, Morrison Momoh of the ministry of health and sanitation, spoke on the proper storage, handling, recording and utilization of the drugs, stressing the need for transparency and accountability.
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