By Amin Kef Sesay
In a press release from People’s Alliance for Reproductive Health (PARHA) dated 15th February 2021, the organization called for a strong partnership between the new Health and Sanitation Minister, and urged for a stronger partnership with Health-based organisations and networks.
The People’s Alliance for Reproductive Health Advocacy (PARHA), in the press release, welcomed the appointment of Dr. Austin Hinga Demby as Minister of Health and Sanitation, replacing Dr. Alpha T. Wurie, who diligently served in that role since 2018.
The release added that Dr. Demby comes with vast experience and an impressive track record in managing public health emergencies and health care systems – which are needed in responding to the challenges that confront Sierra Leone’s health care system.
An epidemiologist and virologist by training, Dr. Demby is a founding member of the CDC’s Global AIDS Programme, and helped to lead efforts to establish HIV offices in five African countries. From 2011-16, he served as the Director and Deputy Principal for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), where he managed the Department’s $2 Billion global HIV/AIDS portfolio. In 2014-2015, Dr. Demby also played a key role in the U.S. Government’s response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.
The PARHA release stated that it is confident that Dr. Demby will use his experience and knowledge to help respond to the many challenges that confront Sierra Leone’s health system. To do so, however, he would need the required financial and technical support from the Government of Sierra Leone, as well as strong partnerships and alliances with both local and international non-governmental organisations and networks. The PARHA release urged the new minister to work collaboratively with both local and international organisations and networks by, among other things, establishing or strengthening existing frameworks for data collection and management, resource management, legal and institutional reform, and coordinated interventions.
PARHA in its release said it is currently working with state and non-state actors to enact a Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health (SMRH) law that seeks to help reform the health sector and also prioritize the reproductive health rights of women and young girls in Sierra Leone.
Since its establishment about 4 years ago, the PARHA coalition has worked concertedly with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, local and international non-governmental organizations, as well as influential individuals in the Sierra Leonean society to address the legal and institutional bottlenecks that impede access to sexual reproductive health right services in Sierra Leone.
