Keynote remarks by His Excellency, Dr. Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, at the formal plenary of the 2022 National Health Summit, Freetown, 7th April 2022.
The Honourable Vice President,
Ministers of Government,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps,
Our Development Partners,
Mayors of Municipalities and Revered Traditional Leaders,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning,
1. I have listened to many stories of loss, fear, anxiety, and of joy. Today,
I will focus on an indicative story of joy.
2. There is the story about a young mother at Moyamba Junction who
beamed with pride as she held her newborn in her arms surrounded by
skilled healthcare workers in a well-lit community health centre. This child
had lived. It was the first time she had ever delivered a child at a community
health centre. She had been brought to the hospital by an ambulance in the
national ambulance fleet that serves her village just outside Moyamba
Junction.
3. Three years from then, that child will attend an early learning centre
at Moyamba Junction, adjacent to her mother’s retail stall. Five years from
then, that child will attend primary school tuition-free, be provided with
teaching and learning materials, be fed with nutritious meals, and be taught
by a highly-skilled school teacher.
4. She will live in Moyamba Junction, a town that, in the last four years
has had a paved high-grade highway to Moyamba and all outlying towns and
villages, a town that now has off-grid solar electricity, potable water, and
much improved schools.
5. Exactly three years ago at TED in Vancouver, I told the world that “I
wake up every day believing that our country should no longer be defined
by the stigma of the past. The future offers more hope and opportunity for
all. It matters more to me that young men and women all across the country
can imagine for themselves that they too can be and are part of this story
of our nation. I want to challenge them to build a country where 3-year-olds
like my daughter, Amina, can grow up with good governance, quality education, healthcare, and good infrastructure.” This is the challenge to which we should continue to rise. This is how we change the story of our nation.
6. This year’s theme, “Health Promotion for Well-being, Equity and
Sustainable Development” resonates with goals my Government set in our
manifesto commitments five years ago and outcomes we described and have
been working towards in our Medium-Term National Development Plan. It
also aligns with international commitments we have made to work toward Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals.
7. So let me, therefore, start by thanking our development partners,
friends, policymakers and leaders, and most especially, healthcare workers
right across Sierra Leones for believing in, supporting, and working
assiduously towards our collective vision of improving health outcomes and
providing equitable access to affordable, quality healthcare.
8. I challenged again at TED that “The most audacious and nation-changing events or policies or even personal choices happen when we ask, “Why not,” then make bold choices, and ensure those bold choices happen.” We made a bold choice to improve human capital development.
9. We asked ourselves “why not” get an improved healthcare delivery
system; set priorities that are sustainable, fair, and deliver health outcomes
that close health disparities; reduce maternal and child mortality; provide
malnourished children with nutritious meals; reduce the incidence of malaria
and other disease burdens; increase vaccination and immunisation rates;
recruit and train more health workers; raise their pay and provide healthcare
workers with health insurance and improved service conditions; deliver
improved mental healthcare and enhanced services to persons living with
HIV, TB, and Leprosy; regularise the delivery of drugs through a new drugs
supply agency; upgrade healthcare infrastructure and laboratories right
across the country so one is available to every Sierra Leonean within a five
mile radius; enhance and expand a national ambulance service; develop
focused strategic plans and health sector policies; restructure our disease
surveillance systems and successfully fight off epidemics and pandemics;
operationalise an affordable health insurance scheme; introduce an innovative national health-on-wheels scheme; revamp the leadership and rework the future of health care delivery in this country; and, work with the private sector on new infrastructure and other investments? All of these we have achieved and more.
10. These are irreversible and indelible gains that have saved lives and
stand above trifling political rhetoric. These gains are about improving the
lives of Sierra Leoneans. We asked ourselves, “why not” and we are delivering.
11. Let me acknowledge here that these gains have been achieved with
technical advice, resource mobilisation, and the goodwill of our partners and
friends. Permit me to single out Global Fund for their $160M grant to support
the fight against HIV, TB, Malaria, and Leprosy and for improving health
management information systems through digitalisation. Also, I want to
again thank the World Bank for their grant of $60 million to strengthen health
systems in some of the poorest, health-deprived areas of our country.
12. We also thank the Government and People of the People’s Republic of
China for their support throughout COVID and for their recent donation of
four fully equipped mobile health clinics that will expand health care
coverage to more areas of our country.
13. To our implementing partners and every development partner that has
built health clinics, helped train health workers, provided vaccines and health
care equipment, promoted women’s health, and supported nourishment and
feeding programmes at no cost to Government, thank you. To you, we owe
a debt of gratitude.
14. We are doing our part. The government has increased the health care
budget and will soon spend in excess of Le70 Billion in infrastructural
upgrades of 100% of all major Government hospitals across the country
irrespective of region.
15. We remain focused on WHO’s interpretation of Universal Health
Coverage goals that “all people and communities [in Sierra Leone] can use
the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health
services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring
that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.”
16. In spite of our gains and our aspirations, we are mindful of persisting
challenges that we will continue working hard to resolve. We believe we have
the essential elements in place. Leadership and governance reforms in the
health sector are ongoing. Our National Medical Supplies Agency continues
its salutary work of distributing essential medical drugs and supplies in a
timely and predictable manner. We are investing extensively in health
workforce training and service delivery. We are experimenting with
innovative health service delivery models.
17. We are optimistic that we will get there. We are eager to work with
partners and friendly nations to install advanced diagnostic equipment and
cutting-edge health care technologies. Integrated health management and
information systems are critical for supporting our treatment and referral
systems in our country. New private investments in pharmaceutical
production are most welcome and we are ready to provide generous
incentives to facilitate the establishment of those production sites in this
country.
18. Let me close by challenging all of us to re-imagine the future of health
care in this country. Let us imagine a future of accessible and affordable
quality healthcare for every Sierra Leonean and plan and work on making
that happen. As you dialogue during this health summit, let us believe that
our shared goals are possible. We must therefore stay fully engaged and
focused on improving health outcomes for every Sierra Leoneans.
I thank you for your kind attention and wish you fruitful deliberations during
this summit.
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