Dr Alimamy Philip Koroma, Medical Superintendent, Kenema

I am the Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Specialist, Eastern Region, Kenema Government Hospital and Chair of the District Health Management team.

 

Dr Alimamy Philip Koroma, Medical Superintendent, Kenema

The situation I met in Kenema was horrible. Apart from the infrastructural damages caused to the health sector by the war, corruption and power struggles rivalries were a big challenge within the health sector.

 When I took over, no body handed over anything documents to me.  There was a calculated attempt to isolate me for attempting to inject sanity into the system. People were deprived of incentives including casual workers. Patients were extorted.

So staff motivation was low, the number of patients seeking treatment at the hospital too were reducing. The hospital account was also virtually empty. With the help of a few colleagues, especially Dr Bundu, I was able to raise a substantial amount of twenty-two million Leones from April to August 2005.

Positive development in this district include the existence now of a Lassa laboratory at the Government Hospital, which was set up by the then United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in partnership with the World Health Organization(WHO) to help combat Lassa .

This Laboratory, to be officially opened on June 10, is of international standard and intended to serve the three countries of the Mano River Union. We are expecting medical researchers from Tulane University in America and other places to help in Lassa research programmes in the lab.

The Kenema Government Hospital has seven wards including one for TB and one for Lassa; 300 admission beds and six professionally trained and qualified Sierra Leonean doctors and two Nigerian specialists.

Government has provided us with a scanning machine at the maternity that could be used to easily diagnose gender, still pregnancy and other anomalies, which had been very difficult to do. So, infant and maternal mortality rates have been appreciably reduced.

Frequently reported cases include malaria, typhoid and sexually transmitted infections. But we are doing our best to contain them.

Our labour base is weak. Our constraints include poor staffing. We work mostly with volunteers or engage the services of casual workers who are paid from our revenue. Access to health sector funds too is Herculean. Medical equipments and consumables are inadequate.

We have only three functioning vehicles, including two ambulance and three motor cycles.