Recent developments in Sierra Leone highlight the lack of adequate healthcare in the region. According to the IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks), an editorially independent part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, clinics that were approved to open under the SLPP (Sierra Leone Peoples Party, defeated in 2007) have never been built. In the village of Charlotte, residents use wheelbarrows to cart those needing medical care to Regent, a neighboring village. The distance is approximately 9 kilometers (5.6 miles). The last medical care given to the residents of Charlotte consisted of a temporary clinic created by volunteer doctors in April 2008. These doctors distributed medicines and treatment before leaving.
As of 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that Sierra Leone had 168 doctors in the entire country (far short of the 1 per 10,000 residents that WHO recommends). Sierra Leone falls at the very bottom of UNICEF’s recent report of The State of the World’s Children 2009, with respect to maternal and newborn health. However, UNICEF workers there remain hopeful that the health of Sierra Leonians is improving. According to Dr. Samuel Kargbo, of the Sierra Leone Health Ministry, health is a top priority for the government in 2009. The UK-based Department for International Development is slated to help develop the infrastructure necessary for improving health throughout the country. However, it has been acknowledged that money is not the only answer to the nation’s failing health. Systems, infrastructure, and medical personnel are necessary to execute government plans for rebuilding the war-torn country. Short and long-term sustainable goals are necessary, according to UNICEF, to dramatically reduce infant mortality.
