Sierra Leone - Emergency Surgical Hospital - Goderich
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Episode 4 - MDG 4 Reduce child mortality
Emergency
Surgical Hospital
Project implemented by Emergency
Goderich, near Freetown, Sierra Leone
December 2010
One in eight women in Sierra Leone dies in childbirth as opposed to one in four thousand in developed countries. Infant mortality rates at 140 per 1000 births and under-five mortality rates at 286 per 1000 are still the highest in the world. Considering that 49% of the total population of Sierra Leone is under the age of 18 and that the situation of the 2.3 million children living in Sierra Leone is still precarious, the national government faces a major challenge.
A country that once boasted of some of the best medical and nursing colleges in West Africa, today Sierra Leone’s public universities and hospitals are underfunded and lack basic facilities. Out of 13 districts in Sierra Leone, only 7 offer basic health care. Although staying in public hospitals does not cost, the government does not have sufficient funds to cover fees for treatments, medicines, operations and doctors. This means that poor people cannot afford treatments and other medical services. Sometimes, even minor problems, like fractures, can degenerate into serious and irreversible deformities.
As part of its efforts to rebuild its devastated health care system, in 2009, the Sierra Leonean government introduced free medical healthcare for pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers, and children under-five years. And in order to motivate health workers across the country, the government gave a six-fold increase in their pay packages.
Many international organisations support the local health care system by establishing clinics, hospitals, equipping existing public health care centres. Emergency is one such Italian non-government organisation that, along with other organisations like Marie Stopes, International Medical Corps, provides free health care services to the Sierra Leonean people, especially to victims of war and poverty and cases requiring surgery.
Emergency has been active in Sierra Leone since 2001 when it built a surgical hospital for war victims in Goderich, a village in a suburb of Freetown, the country's capital. Later, it also started admitting orthopaedic patients and surgical emergencies. In order to respond to the steeply rising infant mortality rates in the country, Emergency, in 2002, built a Paediatric Outpatient Department next to the hospital. This department provides treatment for illnesses like malaria (the leading cause of death of children under age 5), anaemia, and respiratory infections. Emergency’s paediatric clinic also organises health and hygiene education programmes as part of its preventive care measures. Along with an Italian university, Emergency has also developed a new protein rich food for malnourished children made with ingredients easily available in Sierra Leone.
With the vaccination coverage in the country being 76% for measles and 63% for DPT, infant mortality rates in Sierra Leone have now decreased to 76.6. per 1000 live births. The political will of the country and the funding contribution from international agencies like DFID, ADB, World Bank, UNFPA, and UNICEF to the “Free Health Care” policy of the government have been major determinants of the success of the policy.
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Additional notes
Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. Thousands of women bleed to death after giving birth. Most die in their homes. Some die on the way to hospital; in taxis, on motorbikes or on foot. In Sierra Leone, less than half of deliveries are attended by a skilled birth attendant and less than one in five are carried out in health facilities. Over 50% of the Sierra Leonean population lives on less than a dollar a day and a quarter live in extreme poverty. The poorer you are, the more likely you are to die giving birth.
Delay in seeing medical care, the delay in reaching the hospital, and the delay in receiving adequate treatment when they arrive at the hospital are some of the reasons why women die in childbirth. These women could have saved if they had received the necessary care.
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Emergency is an
independent NGO, founded in Italy to provide high quality and free of charge
health care to the war and poverty victims. It seeks to promote a culture of
solidarity, peace and respect for human rights.
Emergency has been
active in Sierra Leone since 2001 when it built and managed a surgical
hospital for war victims in Goderich, a village in the suburbs of Freetown,
the country's capital. Later, it also started admitting orthopaedic patients
and surgical emergencies. In 2002, Emergency built a Paediatric Outpatient
Department next to the hospital, for the treatment of malaria, anaemia and
respiratory infections. In 2005, the infant mortality rate in the country was
the highest in the world, largely caused by malaria, diarrhoea, malnutrition
and common infections.
Health care, in
Sierra Leone, is not free. Although staying in the hospital does not cost,
patients have to pay fees for treatments, medicines, operations and doctors.
This means that poor people cannot afford treatments and other medical
services. Even minor problems, like fractures, can degenerate into serious and
irreversible deformities. Malaria is very widespread and is one of the major
causes of high mortality among children. People frequently suffer from
gastrointestinal and respiratory infections while scabies and worms are
prevalent among children.
Poverty and ignorance
aggravates the incidence of malnutrition and low hygiene standards. In fact,
the paediatric clinic of Emergency runs a project for heath and hygiene
education. Emergency has been collaborating with the University of Parma since
June 2008 to test a new protein rich food for malnourished children that is
made with ingredients easily available in Sierra Leone.
Good practice - Emergency/Sierra Leone - Paediatric Center and medical network for Africa;
Official address of Emergency: Via Vida 11, 20127 Milan, Italy; Web site: http://www.emergency.it
Page describing the main activities of Emergency in Goderich:http://www.emergency.it/sierraleone/goderich-paediatric-centre.html
| Dimitra Giannakopoulo (full interview) | TN-VzmIXQrA |300}} |
| Dimitra - 1 - Why Emergency is here? | 5gDvOjlz-wg |300}} |
| Dimitra - 2 - What are the challanges of your job as medical coordinator | I8BaGEYrJeQ|300}} |
| Dimitra - 3 - Why did you chose to work in international cooperation | 0KUhkBBMhxw |300}} |
| Dimitra - 4 - What happened today | iNseNngCVYA |300}}
|
| Dr Lewis - 1 - Your work with Emergency | AE3P1emg9zw|300}} |
| Dr Lewis - 2 - Work satisfaction and money | ChUdiY3iagA |300}} |
| Dr Lewis - 3 - What Salone needs to learn from Italy and what Italy can learn from Salone | w7o45tZXPEw |300}} |
| Quale e' l'approccio di Emergency | mVWwxOfdMR4 |300}} |
| I perche' della scelta di un primario di chirurgia di lavorare per Emergency | ZzLCChbOvFc |300}} |
| Dottoressa Italiana - Pediatra | mRLwzhnQNe8 |300}} |
| Francesco Zappa - Difference in Exposure between a Tourist and a Development Worker | w1AxRNoFxTw |300}} |
| Francesco Zappa - Difference Work Exposure between the Usual Work and the Development Work | 8qAhmkPVqJE |300}} |
| Francesco Zappa - Why did you choose Development Cooperation? The change in Responsibility | n07VsVeaMk8|300}} |
| Francesco Zappa - Philosophy of Emergency | jk3B5O8Faq0 |300}} |
| Francesco Zappa - What have you learned from Africa? | iAlOx8-bb5E |300}} |
| Nurse Kelly | KD9c23BieUc|300}} |
| A message to contributors | wKzgmGKstlI|300}} |
| Un messaggio a chi ci sostiene economicamente | ykOUkY9DXpU|300}} |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD9c23BieU