22nd April 2010, Emily Spry: The free health care initiative in Sierra Leone

It is now less than one week until the launch of the free health care initiative in Sierra Leone when, as regular readers will know, government health facilities, such as my own dear Children’s Hospital, will be required to provide free healthcare to children under five, pregnant and breast-feeding women.

The big day is Tuesday 27th April, Independence Day, when the nation will celebrate 49 years since the end of colonial rule by Britain.
Clearly, this is a hugely complex project and myriad things need to come together to make it possible. A good deal of money is being spent by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), UNICEF, and several international non-governmental organisations.

One key step has been to increase health-worker salaries to a living wage, so that it is plausible to demand that they stop charging user fees. This has been done, though negotiations did involve a full-blown strike.

My sources now tell me that the strike was only ended by a secret meeting in which the President agreed to increase salaries further. This apparently will ensure that first year doctors take home $600 after tax, rather than being taxed heavily on a gross salary of that amount.

Of course, the salaries haven’t actually been paid yet and many beleaguered health workers prefer to reserve judgement “until we feel the money in our pockets”.

The second key issue is for the government to supply free drugs and consumables to the hospitals and clinics for the first time in many years.

I’m sure that UNICEF and the others had a strategy for this at some level. Certainly, they have brought several million dollars’ worth of drugs into the country.

For many months now, I have tried to find out which drugs we can expect at the Children’s Hospital, and how much thereof.

Just three days ago, the Hospital Pharmacist finally got a list.

Unfortunately (and AGONISINGLY predictably), whoever wrote the list clearly has no idea what the Ola During Children’s Hospital is (the clue is in the name) and what that might mean in terms of our drug needs.

According to this list, we are to be given the same drugs at the same quantity as if we were a small primary health unit.

Thus, we have been allocated inappropriate drugs and consumables (clotrimazole vaginal suppositories, anyone? Or would you like to have our allocation of drugs used only in childbirth?)

I can’t see any injectible anti-malarials on there, though I’m still hoping that I’m missing something.

And we have been allocated tiny quantities. In a really staggering disappointment, we have been allocated 13 intravenous cannulas. For a hospital that admits around 800 patients a month.

We are trying to engage the relevant people to make changes but, with three working days to go before the launch (and nothing yet delivered to the Hospital), it may well be too late.

Another key to all this is communication. A truck turned up at the Children’s Hospital today, pumping out music and blaring messages about free care.

Who is going to tell an expectant public that it’s only basic healthcare that is free? (if your child needs a second-line antibiotic, you will need to go out and buy it or go without). Who is going to tell them that the 13 cannulas have run out?

I found out today that the President is going to launch free health care at the Children’s Hospital. I’m not sure if that will be a blessing or a curse.