The President and his entourage on the 15th April, 2023 visited Pahala and Futa towns in order to celebrate Pejeh Chiefdom in Pujehun District, where it was confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of no maternal death in the last five years.
That confirmation came just after the new Country Representative for World Health Organization, Dr Innocent Nuwagira called at State House to congratulate the country on the drastic reduction in maternal mortality, saying that they are proud of Sierra Leone’s achievement.
The President and entourage including the First Lady Dr Fatima Maada Bio were welcomed into the chiefdom by the safe delivery of a bouncing baby girl, weighing 2.5 kg.
The Community Health Officer for the Futa Community Health Centre, Isaac Mattia, said they had recorded no maternal related death in the seven catchment villages of Futa, Massa, Koiva, Jandama, Kenema Pejeh, Buma and Jembeh with a total of 1,047 households and accounting for a population of about 6,282 people.
“1,112 are in the under-five population, representing 17.7 percent of the chiefdom population. We have a total of 276 pregnant women in the chiefdom, accounting for 4.4 percent of the population in the catchment communities. Following the establishment of the facility, we reviewed the mother and neonate registration and determined that the number of pregnant women registering for antenatal care with gestational ages of 12 weeks or less, was low.
“The team decided to set our goal to improve antenatal care registration from the initial 6 percent to 60 percent at the end of January 2022. To date, there has been no maternal death in the chiefdom, as a result of the involvement of community members, pregnant women, and their husbands,” Mattia said.
He also noted that because of the community engagement and stakeholders involvement in the campaign, backed by support from the District Health Management Team and direct support to all the Peripheral Healthcare Units and health delivery centers, they were able to encourage pregnant women in the catchment communities to access the health facility earlier, so that if there was any risk or complication they would be in the position to make an early referral to the district hospital.
“We have been engaging the traditional birth attendants, or TBAs, who play a very significant and important role in these communities, and their intervention has resulted in a huge turnout of cases of pregnant women accessing our facility. Wherever there is a case of a maternal-related issue, the community has been in full support in mobilizing towards ensuring that our job here is easy and we are able to deliver the required services,” he confirmed.
While addressing his people in Pehala and Futa towns, President Julius Maada Bio assured them of his Government’s commitment to improving healthcare service delivery in the country, pointing out that his Human Capital Development programme caters for education, health, and agriculture.
He emphasized that education is a priority because it is the key to unlocking development in the 21st century and called on them to be more united and to embrace all Government activities. He said the status of all Peripheral Healthcare Units and health facilities nationwide would be improved to save lives and provide the required services to the people.
The First Lady urged voters to focus on voting for His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio in the coming elections.
“This is a PR system, which means all the voters should do is vote for their presidential candidate and the party because when the President wins, it means the SLPP has won, implying that your candidate has also won.
“All those that are coming to the SLPP from opposition parties are all heartily welcome. Be informed that we are one people in the SLPP and be reminded that we don’t believe in violence in the SLPP party. So, to all voters on the day of the election, on 24 June, please sacrifice half of that day for the development of Sierra Leone, for your children’s education and vote for President Julius Maada Bio to continue with the many developments in the country,” she enjoined.
