Welcoming the team during a courtesy call on the Health and Sanitation Minister, Sheiku Tejan Koroma lauded Cordaid and MRC for their continued support towards the reduction of maternal and child mortality in the country.

The Minister noted the destruction caused to personnel and health facilities during the war and expressed gratitude to Cordaid for assisting the Ministry, the Government and people of Sierra Leone by providing drugs, medical supplies, equipment and various training programmes for doctors, nurses and other departments in the health sector.

Koroma expressed the urgent need for human resource development with a view to strengthening staff capacity and output in health facilities at periphery level and the hospitals. He thanked the MRC and Cordaid for sponsoring 10 nurses currently undertaking tutorial programmes in Nigeria.

The Minister told the team that the Health Ministry is forging ahead with many key challenges and programmes that would help upgrade the health facilities in urban and rural areas.

He said the Reproductive and Child Health Directorate of the Ministry is poised to articulate actions geared towards providing basic essential packages for five Health Centers in each district with complete emergency obstetric newborn care services.

Collaboration

The Public Health Programme Officer, Cordaid, Dr. Piet Van and leader of the visiting team reminded the Ministry about their sponsored Midwifery School project which is nearly in completion in Makeni, and the need for effective collaboration between the Nurses and Midwives Board of Sierra Leone and the Midwifery School of Rotterdam and the Dutch Midwives Association.

He said the Midwifery School in Makeni when completed would also impact on the health of the communities noting that it would produce more trained personnel to address the brain drain problem in the rural area.

The team also met with the Director of the Reproductive and Child Health Programme, Dr. Samuel Kargbo, the Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kisito Sheku Daoh and other Senior Officials of the Health Ministry.

The team is expected to visit health facilities in the Bombali and Tonkolili districts.