President Bio has launched a project for the construction of a 45 bed capacity ultra-modern rural hospital in Jojoima town, Malema Chiefdom, Kailahun District. The hospital upon completion is expected to contain all the required facilities needed to provide comprehensive emergency, obstetric and new-born care and handling of all pregnant and new-born cases.
President Bio told citizens in that part of the country that the mandate given to him by the majority to serve and lead the nation requires him to deliver the services locals had long been deprived of. He said the facility upon completion will serve as one of the means by which government end the poor access to healthcare sufferings of people across the country, especially those in that part of the country.
Addressing the health situation in that part of the country, the President revealed that government will provide electricity, good roads and an ultra-modern healthcare facility to the people of Malema Chiefdom, and confirmed that his administration fervently believes in developing the human being, against which backdrop he said distance should not be an obstacle to benefiting from government services, infrastructure or social amenities.
President Bio reminded that he’d promised the people Free Quality Education during his campaign for the presidency, noting that as of that date, there are 2.5 million children nationwide benefiting from that free package under his New Direction administration, which he associated to the value his government places on education.
The president called on children to go to and stay in school so they will become useful people in society and urged parents to support their children’s education especially the girls, adding that in recent times, girls have proven that they can do better. He assured the people of Jojoima and Kailahun District that the road construction project will not stop in the district headquarter, but will be extended to as far as Koindu along with the re-establishment of the Koindu International Market so as to restore the livelihood of the people of Kailahun District.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. T.T. Samba said the 45 bed ultra-modern hospital upon completion will provide surgery and laboratory services to ensure proper diagnosis; a blood bank to provide healthy and appropriate blood for patients when needed; an isolation unit, mortuary and staff quarters to house medical personnel. He said the services the hospital will be providing will ensure the lives of people in that part of the country are safe, noting that the project is in line with the president’s Human Capital Development agenda.
The Minister of Health and Sanitation, Alpha Tejan Wurie, revealed that ten months ago government opened a 100-bed maternal and paediatric hospital in Kailahun District that forms part of the ongoing transformation in the sector. He said Jojoima has been deprived of proper medical facility for long, against which backdrop government is making sure the ordinary people benefit from the services.
On free healthcare, the minister said government has never failed in its responsibility to distribute drugs to all districts on a quarterly basis, but noted that, “Government has not been receiving these drugs totally free as the name implies.” He informed that, “Government in 2018 paid 10 percent of the cost; in 2019 we paid 30 percent, and 35 percent in 2020.”
The minister said that government is presently working towards establishing a government-owned pharmacy in Jojoima and every other chiefdom headquarter town in the country so that Sierra Leoneans can get quality drugs and healthcare services nationwide.
By Mohamed Kabba