måndag 16 december 2024

Political situation in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has its first modern hospital

Pressure on Sierra Leone's government to improve the country's healthcare system is high – and just recently opened the country's first state-of-the-art children's hospital. In the capital Freetown, children can now receive specialist care for the first time.

The hospital has come into existence thanks to the financial support of Japan. Some of the staff have also received their training there, writes The Telegraph.

"Families will no longer have to bear the financial burden of flying their children abroad for specialized treatment," Health Minister Austin Demby said at the launch.

But it is a high mountain to climb, the newspaper notes. The hospital has only a few employees and many residents are in great need of care.

Sick children are flown out into the world - but many get no help

In impoverished Sierra Leone, the healthcare system is one of the world's most neglected. This means that many sick children are forced to rely on donations in order to be flown out to other parts of the world, The Telegraph reports.

14-year-old Mabinty Paulina Bangura suffered from an unusual condition that resulted in a slip in the growth zone of her hip. It could have been solved with a fairly simple procedure.

The problem? No one in Sierra Leone could perform the operation.

Bangura is one of many who have received help from the "Sick children" project, which since 2018 has collected money so that 120 children can receive treatment abroad. She was flown to India, where she underwent surgery.

- I thank God for "Sick children". Without them, she would have had this hip problem forever, says her mother Isatu Isha Kamara.

But most kids don't have that luxury. Around ten percent of the children born in the country never reach the age of five.

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