By politico staff writer
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Russia has in a meeting with Russian health authorities on Monday 4th October 2021 called on the Russian government to help improve Sierra Leone’s healthcare and sanitation system.
Ambassador Mohamed Yongawo said that Sierra Leone is challenged with inequitable access to quality emergencies and secondary and tertiary care services. "Most hospitals are old and do not support modern technology. Investment in building, operating, and managing modernized hospital facilities is a key priority of the government. Investment to address staff shortages, improve infrastructure and operational expertise, and introduce or expand a spectrum of accessible and affordable clinical services is critical,” he said.
He added that poor access to good quality laboratory and imaging services is resulting in huge expenditure on overseas treatment through government financing, noting that “poor access to quality diagnostics services, including the diagnostic center which includes: MRI, CT scan, X-ray, ECG, Endoscopy, Ultrasound, Histology, Microbiology and Pathology coupled with the non-existence of imaging specialists continues to exist as strong government priorities.”
Ambassador Yongawo also pointed out the need for a scalable national imaging center with telecommunication links that can support public and private health facilities in the cities as well as in rural areas.
The Ambassador went on to advocate for collaboration and cooperation between the healthcare systems of Russia and that of Sierra Leone. He said Russia has got a specialized Laboratory in Guinea for tropical diseases and therefore called for the extension of such a facility to Sierra Leone.
He also used the occasion to express gratitude to Russia for its role in helping train Sierra Leoneans specialists’ particularly medical doctors and for that country’s support in periods of health emergencies such as the Ebola outbreak and Covid-19 pandemic.
In his statement, the Deputy Minister of Health, Hon. Oleg Gridnev expressed satisfaction that Sierra Leone and the sub-region benefited from Russian made Ebola vaccines and other humanitarian assistance in 2014 when the virus broke out.
Concerning the Laboratory in Guinea, the minister promised the request would be discussed at a higher level of government. The Deputy Minister added that every year Russia offers scholarship opportunities to Sierra Leoneans to study in different fields including medicine and that this shall continue.
Copyright © Politico Online (05/10/21)
