In a bid to help save the lives of people suffering with kidney ailments and most especially those who may not afford to pay for treatments abroad, the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Madam Sia Nyama Koroma past Friday, 2nd March 2012 officially opened the Dialysis Unit at the Connaught Hospital in Freetown.
Speaking on behalf of the Dialysis Unit at the Connaught Hospital, Dr. Russell one of the trainees in Dialysis from Israel, he expressed gratitude for being part of the programme since when the project was first proposed by Mrs. Koroma.
He said that the knowledge they acquired from Israel has now become useful with the establishment of a dialysis unit, stating that the responsibility is now on the Sierra Leonean medical team to make sure that they make good use of the facility. He added that the Dialysis Unit has never been in operation in the history of the country as many people have lost their lives for lack of a treatment facility and their inability to go abroad for treatment.
“When the First Lady visited Israel, I asked her what shall I provide for her country”, she replied, that she wanted a Dialysis Unit as many people are affect with liver problem, recalled David Ben Basat, Honorary Consul of Sierra Leone to Israel.
He explained that upon that reply, he told Mrs. Koroma that the Unit is not the problem but the most important thing is the training of personnel that can effectively utilize the machines. He went on that as a result some doctors and nurses were sent to Israel for a month-long training in the use and maintenance of the dialysis machines. He however noted that the one month training was not enough and therefore, some doctors and nurses and other experts in the use of the machines have been sent in by the Government of Israel as Volunteers to assist with additional training.
According to David Ben Basat, this is all aimed at strengthening the friendly and bilateral relationships between Israel and Sierra Leone. He said the machines will yield “huge benefits to the people of Sierra Leone” as it is going to save the lives of many Sierra Leoneans. He described the machines as ‘”most recent and most modernized machines” whose efficacy cannot be compared with the ones used in Ghana and elsewhere in the sub region where Sierra Leoneans go for treatment.
“In the coming years we hope to build a sophisticated hospital in Sierra Leone to help promote this project in the interest of all,” the Consul assured.
Mr. Tamba Borbor Sawyer, Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation refgerred to the occasion as “another mile stone in the country’s attainment of the Millennium Development Goals as Dialysis is a life-threatening disease.”
He said the dialysis is a critical ailment as it deals with a key organ in the human anatomy. He said the kidney plays a vital role in the body’s system as it serves as filter of the blood and removes waste products from the body.
According to Minister Sawyer dialysis is done when the kidney damage has reached 85 percent on terminal kidney failure and can no longer respond to any treatment. He maintained that dialysis help people with renal (kidney) failure to survive.
He disclosed that the government will do all it can to see that this Unit is utilized for its intended purpose to help save lives and reduce government’s expenditure on sending people abroad for treatment for kidney related problems.
In her statement, Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma thanked the Government and people of Israel for “their friendly support” in the form of the machines and the training of experts for the Dialysis Unit.”
She disclosed that the Government of Israel provide two machines and David Ben Basat, the Honorary Consul of Sierra Leone to Israel also provided another two machines out of his own savings and that each of the machines cost over US$ 100, 000, 000 (One hundred million United States Dollars) as they are the modernized models.
Mrs. Koroma maintained that the gift “is very timely as government is marking the final stages of the first phase of political campaigning”, noting that she has made her mark in President Koroma’s Agenda for Change in particular, the health sector.
She noted, “I was initially faced with so many challenges that were Herculean, but as a woman of courage, I have been able to over come them,” she acknowledged.
By Alhaji M. Kamara
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