By Kemo Cham
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday handed over a consignment of medical equipment as donation to the Sierra Leone government to boost its response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The items, which included oxygen concentrators, laboratory kits and an ambulance, were presented to the Minister of Health and Sanitation, Prof. Alpha Tejan Wurie at an event held at the WHO Country Office in Freetown. Officials said the package are not only crucial for the Covid-19 response but also to strengthen the country’s healthcare system post Covid-19.
The consignment presented include 84 oxygen concentrators, which officials say are part of a total of 204 donated to the government through funding provided by the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and the Regional Office in Congo Brazzaville. The remaining 120 oxygen concentrators are onboard a ship headed for Freetown, according to WHO officials.
Also part of the consignment are 522 Sample Swab (Disposable sample kit), 5184 Nucleic Acid Extraction Kit, 5200 RT PCR Kit, 1000 viral transportation media, among others.
The ambulance, a Land Cruiser Hardtop vehicle, was secured with funds from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), whose country representative, Peninsh Kariuki, was singled out for praises by both the Health Minister and the WHO Country officials.
Sierra Leone is said to be one of five countries that benefitted from the AfDB largess which was reportedly acquired through a highly competitive application process.
WHO Country Representative, Dr Evans Liyosi, facilitated the acquisition of all the donated items. He said an emergency like Covid-19 called for collaboration, adding that his office was committed to supporting Sierra Leone to not only effectively respond to Covid-19, but to also strengthen its health system to serve its purpose beyond the pandemic.
“We won't end there. We will continue to fight for more.
Until we are out of this emergency, we cannot rest,” said Dr Liyosi, while stressing the importance of the donated materials.
Dr Charles Njuguna, Health Security and Emergency Coordinator at the WHO Country Office, said while the pandemic has posed a lot of challenges to the health sector, it also offered an opportunity to strengthen the health sector, noting that a lot of progress had been attained in that direction. This donation, he said, is a major boost to this ongoing progress.
“It’s about a system that’s battling covid-19, but also an opportunity to improve on the health system for future emergencies,” he said.
For his part, Dr Wurie remarked that the Covid-19 pandemic has indicated the fact that most countries were learning how to respond. He said countries perceived as having efficient health system were also still struggling to contain the virus.
Wurie said recognizing this fact, Sierra Leone took no chance in its response, as demonstrated by the early response efforts and the leadership role played by President Julius Maada Bio in the whole response efforts which involved every facet of the government.
“But whatever we do as a government, we still need support from the international community,” the minister said, as he praised the WHO for the support.
Wurie said all the donated items were crucial in both the covid-19 response and for post-covid.
With this disease, oxygen level of the patient drops and the oxygen concentrator is crucial in helping the patient through the treatment process, he noted, while explaining the significance of the oxygen concentrators. The health minister also hailed the fact that part of the consignment is the PCR test kits, the goal standard of testing for Covid.
“As s country, we cannot have a better friend,” he said, referring to the WHO. He singled the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti for praises for her continued support to African countries in the ongoing pandemic.
“If people think that women can't do it, the regional director has demonstrated that women can do better,” he said.
Wurie said amidst all the development ongoing in the health sector strengthening, it’s now time to look at the national public health system.
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