This Friday is World Health Day
Tuesday, 4 April 2006
This Friday is World Health Day
Friday, April 7 is World Health Day 2006. The theme this year is about health workers themselves. To mark the occasion, Concern is highlighting some of the health issues experienced by the people of Sierra Leone, which ranks 176 out of 177 countries on the UN’s Human Development Index.
Indian medical doctor, Sathya Raja is from Bangalore and studied medicine at the University of Mysore in India. He later did post graduate work in community medicine. Sathya, who works for Concern in Sierra Leone as the health coordinator, is based in the capital in Freetown, and also supervises health projects in Tonkolili district.
“I believe passionately this is where we belong and right now we are in a great position to make a difference in health care,” he stresses. “We are coming out of a terrible war and the people are growing in confidence every day and at last we have a chance to improve the quality of life for so many people.
“We are in Sierra Leone, short of medical staff, we are also short of facilities and equipment, so we need the international community to help us,” he says.
One of the main areas of health work that Concern is currently doing is the digging of wells so that the people can be guaranteed clean water. “We are digging wells and we also plan to channel natural springs where the well option is technically not feasible. We are bringing this water to people and making sure it is kept clean. All of this work is done in conjunction with local organisations. Concern works closely with the Department of Health in Sierra Leone.
“We are also teaching skills to local people so that they can in turn do this work for themselves and train communities,” the Concern health coordinator stresses.
Sathya hopes that Sierra Leone will now experience a period of peace and stability as he has seen for himself how such an environment builds up confidence in the people, which in turn is the bedrock for the fight against poverty.
Halima Massaquoi is a nurse working with Concern in the health sector in the country. The Sierra Leoneon nurse monitors Government staff, working in Concern supported clinics. She is also responsible for drug supplies and the day-to-day running of the clinics.
“Concern is helping the poorest of the poor and we are providing drugs and medical supplies to people who are in crying need of them. We are also giving training to medical staff. Our work here means that children under the age of five have a much better chance of surviving,” she insists.
Halima points out that because of the great poverty in Sierra Leone, salaries are low and not at all on a par with anything in the developed world. And because medical personnel can earn more abroad there is naturally a drain on qualified people. She pleads with the wealthier countries of the world to help the medical sector in her country.
Allieu Bangura, also from Sierra Leone, is working on the Concern health project in his native country. He points out that while the prevalence of HIV/Aids is officially as low as 1.5 per cent, he is concerned that with the existing levels of poverty, there are worrying signs that this figure may rise significantly
Again, he stresses that there is a terrible shortage of drugs.
“In the fight against AIDS there are no anti-retroviral drugs available in Sierra Leone. This means that we are in urgent need of international help. We are one of the poorest countries in the world, just coming out of war, so you can see, there are huge challenges ahead,” he points out.
While he is conscious that the war is over, he believes that the issue of poverty means that the country is engaged in another war. “This time it is a head-on battle against poverty and the country simply does not have the resources to fight this new war. So, we need help from the international community and we need it urgently,” he says.
