The Need

From the 2005 UNICEF Humanitarian Action Program for Sierra Leone:

Ravaged by a 10-year conflict, Sierra Leone is ranked last in the Human Development Index. Access to basic services such as health, water, and sanitation remains a real challenge. Children’s health is heavily affected by prevailing diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition, and respiratory infections. Wide disparities in access to safe water and sanitation are observed. HIV/AIDS is a major threat, with little prevention and lack of access to education and health care systems.

VITAL STATISTICS:

• Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world
• Cost of health care services are beyond the ability of most to afford
• Less than 200 doctors serve a population of nearly 6 million
• Supply of effective medications is unreliable
• Quality diagnostic laboratory and radiology services are rare

AS A RESULT:

• Sierra Leone has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world
• Sierra Leone has the highest under 5 mortality rate in the world
• Malnutrition is Rampant and is a key factor in over 40% of under 5 deaths
• Average life expectancy is 41 years of age
• Malaria is responsible for 37% of all hospital admissions in Sierra Leone and is the number one national health priority for the country
• Medical professionals have limited access to continuing medical education programs

The Issues

THOUSANDS ARE DYING NEEDLESSLY

MALARIA SENSITIZATION AND TREATMENT

The hospital unit was full, with over 40 children ranging in age from 1 month old to 14 years of age. The nurse led us towards the back of the ward to a small white crib holding a 3 year old child. The child was unresponsive but occasionally let out a small mewling sound. His IV dripped a golden-colored medicine into his veins as the nurse explained that it was to late – he was actively dying from cerebral malaria. In a matter of hours he would lost his battle against this totally preventable and treatable disease. Located in sub-Saharan Africa, Sierra Leone has one of the highest incidences of fatal malaria in the world and access too life-saving mosquito bed nets and education programs is sporadic. In March 2007 UNICEF documented that less that 2% of at risk infants slept under treated mosquito nets despite the face that malaria was the single largest cause of death for children under five in the region. Supplies of effective drug therapies are equally unreliable, with a large supple of counterfeit drugs confounding the market. Through education on prevention and early detection, distribution of treated bed nets, and provision of effective anti-malarial medications, a malaria sensitization and treatment program will save lives.

HIV

Tears fell quietly from the young woman’s eyes as she placed her hands over her pregnant belly. “I have lost 3 babies already; please give me medicine so this one will live to grow up”. Her husband had died 2 months previously, as had 3 of their 4 children. She was not well either – she suffered from fevers and had recently begun to lose weight, despite her pregnancy. While there are many conditions which could cause such devastation, the one she most feared was HIV, and rightly so. Left untreated, HIV spares no one, especially when it is surrounded by a culture of misinformation and fear. But there is hope. Voluntary, confidential counseling and testing programs can slow the spread of this disease by educating people on proper prevention methods. Affordable treatment options, while virtually non-existent in Sierra Leone, are well documented elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. In many cases these treatment are extremely effective at halting the progression of HIV and can be critical in preventing it’s transmission to infants of infected mothers. Mother to child transmission of HIV can be reduced to less than 3% with the use of a short course of HIV-fighting drugs taken during pregnancy. HIV testing, counseling and treatment programs are crucial to help relieve the suffering this deadly disease has wracked throughout the world, and particularly in Sierra Leone.

THERAPEUTIC FEEDING PROGRAM

“This boy is one of the lucky ones”. Our team looked into the sparkling eyes of a mischievous 5 year old as the Senior Nurse Administrator of the Government Hospital described his situation. His mother had brought the boy to the Hospital 6 weeks earlier – nearly dead from malaria and malnutrition – at a time when the Hospital still had funding to run an active Therapeutic Feeding Program. When he came into the Hospital he weighed only 28 pounds and his skeletal frame was so weak that he would not walk. It took 6 weeks of intensive re-feeding – first with intravenous nutrition then later with a high protein food mix specially designed for malnourished children. The program saved his life, but he was the last child in the region to receive such care as the Program lost its funding in 2005. It is widely known that when a person suffering from malnutrition falls ill, their illness is often dangerously aggressive, as the body lacks the energy necessary to fight disease. In Sierra Leone, where over 60% of the population will contract malaria before the age of 5, and where nearly 30% is clinically malnourished, lack of access to quality nutrition has become a deadly enemy.

PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPORT

According to the pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs are rampant throughout the nation. The government of Sierra Leone has begun an aggressive campaign to eliminate such drugs from the market. The Chairman of the Pharmacy Board however, has acknowledged that her department is facing serious constraints in their ability to fully address the problem, especially in outlying regions of the country. This issue hits hardest those who can least afford to pay. While most government hospitals stock legitimate pharmaceuticals, the supples are limited and the costs prohibitive, forcing many Sierra Leoneans to buy drugs at lesser prices from peddlers of counterfeit drugs. Dramatic raids on unregistered pharmacies and bonfires to set ablaze stockpiles of illegitimate drugs – such as those run by the Pharmacy Board – have an impact, but they do not solve the problem of access to pure and effective drugs for the poor. By providing a consistent supply of effective, high quality medicines at prices within reach of even the most destitute, the Pharmacy of Mercy Hospital in Bo, Sierra Leone can make a significant and relevant impact on the health of the community.

The Solution

GIVING LIFE

Mercy Hospital FILLS A VITAL NEED by providing:

• 25 bed hospital to provide care regardless of ability to pay
• Highly trained medical staff led by licensed physician and state registered nurse midwife
• Community health education
• Fully stocked pharmacy supplied with pure, reliable medications
• Diagnostic laboratory and radiology services on premises
• On-site medical library with internet-based continuing education

THE PROGRAMS administered include:

1. National Vaccine Center through UNICEF and WHO
2. Voluntary HIV testing, counseling and case management program
3. Maternity care with professionally attended deliveries and comprehensive prenatal care
4. Malaria prevention and treatment program with bed nets, medication, and education
5. Therapeutic Feeding Center to treat and prevent malnutrition
6. Annual medical education programs for community health professionals

BUILDING HOPE

This hospital will serve thousands of people each year. In most cases these are people who would not have had health care available to them. AS FINANCIAL SUPPORT GROWS, the hospital will include:

• A surgical center
• An expanded maternity center
• An HIV treatment program

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT US.