The Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) on Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th February 2019 held a refresher program of all stakeholders and welcomed new members to its group. Present at the meeting were the Deputy Minister of Heath and Sanitation Dr.Anthony Sandy , the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Health Hon. Moses Baimba Jorkie, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Hon. Francis Kaisamba and other stakeholders, including CSOs.
Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, Executive Director of FOCUS 100 and Chairman of the CCM said that malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS are major killer diseases which have the tendencies to reverse the gains of Government. He stressed on the effects of malaria on the working population and how it will impact negatively on the development strides of the Government. Global fund, he went on, is designed to support Government to fight the 3 diseases, which affect all sectors of the society. “Malaria contributes in bringing down the development of the country,” he underscored.
Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Health and Sanitation, Hon Jorkie, in his statement said that the overall goal of the Global Fund in Sierra Leone is to scale up response to the eradication of the 3 diseases. He however recognized that the 3 diseases pose major global health threats that can cause negative impact on nations. He further disclosed that inadequate human resources, absence of facilities, poor laboratory infrastructure are the major challenges of the health system. “To achieve the goal set there is need for all hands to be on deck, including Parliament,” he went on. He pledged the support of parliament in the fight against the diseases and that they will provide advocacy, resource mobilization and community sensitization to support the fight.
Chair of the Finance Oversight Committee in Parliament, Hon. Francis Kaisamba, commended the Global Fund for their support and the Government for the counterpart funding of 5% to the Fund. He stressed that the worrying fact is the absorptive capacity for the utilization of such funds. He called for the timely presentation of applications to the Finance Ministry to facilitate early and prompt disbursement. The Committee, he pledged, will ensure timely oversight to ensure proper utilization and implementation of the projects.
Delivering the Keynote address, the Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Sandy, apologized for the absence of the Minister, whom he said was engaged in another State function and expressed appreciation to the Global Fund for their support.
“To achieve the goal set in the fight against the 3 major killer diseases, there is the need for team work, as it is the only way to achieve the desired result,” he suggested. He hoped for specific proposals for the achievement of the goal set. He added that the Government is committed to fight these diseases as demonstrated by its financial support. He hoped for a fruitful deliberation to address all bottlenecks.
In an exclusive interview with this medium Dr. Jalloh maintained that the Global Fund is geared towards the fight against Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS. Thus it offers funds to countries where the diseases are prevalent. For this process to come to reality, Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) should be put in place. The Global Fund does not have offices in any country across the world and through the CCM, mobilizes resources and ensure effective implementation. His organization ensures that all funds sent to fight the 3 diseases, are used judiciously and for the intended purpose.
All stakeholders then went into a workshop session in their bid to identify bottlenecks and chart a way forward to make the fight against the diseases more effective.
