As part of her campaign to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone and promote institutional delivery, the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma, on Saturday, 4th August 2012, handed over medical equipment and accessories, baby packs and solar lights to the Koidu Government Hospital in Kono in the East of the country.
The donation was aimed at improving the quality of life of new born babies and pregnant women who give birth in hospitals.
Handing over the equipment, Mrs. Koroma said that she is complimenting government’s effort to improve the country’s health and education sectors.
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| Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma |
She said that the Free Health Care initiative is a big chain tied to the foot of government, but that government has to maintain and sustain it to make maternal mortality a problem of the past and a foundation for the future of the country’s children.
Mrs. Koroma stated that the death of a child at an early age is a disaster and the death of a woman in childbirth is equally a disaster. She reaffirmed her commitment to continue placing priority on women and children’s issues in the country.
The First Lady used the forum to appeal to pregnant women to always go to hospitals for safe delivery and to lactating mothers to engage in exclusive breastfeeding of their babies and to take them to hospitals whenever they are sick.
She said that as a mother and a Trained Nurse, her Women Initiative for Safer Health (WISH) project is to help fight against Maternal Mortality. Mrs. Koroma warned against teenage pregnancies, early marriages and urged young women and girls to make education a priority. She encouraged them to join family planning for a healthy life and to have quality and healthy children.
Receiving the items, Dr. Ibrahim Kargbo-Labour thanked the First Lady for her timely intervention and assured her that the items will be used for their intended purposes.
Matron Zainab Kamara commended Mrs. Koroma for the medical equipment, especially the Surgical Kits and Solar Lights which she disclosed were in dire need.
She said that the solar lights will help them in terms of emergency caesarean operations at night as the hospital is currently running without electricity supply.
The Matron disclosed that since the breakdown of the hospital’s plant generator, they have been using Chinese Lamps to do operations.
One of the beneficiaries, Hawa Kabbah thanked the First Lady for her gesture and said that the donation will save many women and children from dieing.She said that in her first pregnancy, she delivered at home because of lack of money but with the free health care, she is now delivering safely in a hospital without paying a single cent.
The items donated include Baby Packs, small and big Towels, Surgical Kits, Fetor Stethoscope, Plasters, Solar Lights, Theatre kits, Bed Linings and Mackintosh among others.
The First Lady made a conducted tour of the hospital.
© Copyright by Awareness Times
Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
