In a very unprecedented development, the Rokel Commercial Bank desk office at Legal Aid Board head office has paid hundred mothers to collect child maintenance fees. Through the Child Maintenance Account opened on August 15 at the Siaka Stevens Street Branch of the Rokel Commercial Bank, the Executive Director of the Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles has called on fathers to be responsible and desist from delaying the payment of child maintenance money.
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles said: “We are under pressure when mothers come to collect maintenance monies from the bank after a week or more in the following month and find out nothing has been paid into their accounts”. She concedes that while the Board has found a way around irresponsible parents who flout settlements reached at mediation, it is still struggling to deal with fathers who delay payment of maintenance money.
Left to Right: WHH Project Admin- Juliana Kpewa, Mayor of KNSCC- Komba Sam and Chief Admijistrator of KNSCC- Ahmed M. Lahai during the official hnding over of the vehicle
Welthungerhilfe (WHH) has donated a Toyota Fortuner vehicle to the Koidu New Sembehun City Council (KNSCC) on Wednesday 23rd October, 2019. The donation was explained to enable the KNSCC monitor the Waste Management Project in Koidu City effectively.
Speaking at the official presentation of the vehicle, the Deputy Head of Project- Alfred Maada Fobay warned that the vehicle must not be used for political purposes while expressing hope that the cordial collaboration between the two institutions has grown in strength in tackling the challenges of waste in Koidu.
The Mayor of the Koidu New Sembehun City Council (KNSCC), Komba Sam was extremely happy for the donation and thanked WHH for the timely gesture while promising that the vehicle would be used for its intended purpose. He also expressed optimism that the project will succeed in managing waste in the Municipality. “This is a big boost for the Council as it would also save us costs,” Mayor Komba stated; adding that “we should leave a legacy for generations unborn.”
Left to Right: Thomas Okara (WHH Deputy Head of Project), Mayor Komba Sam, Alfred Maada Fobay (WHH Deputy Head of Project), Ahmed M. Lahai (Chief Administrator of KNSCC), Ansu Bangura (WHH Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, Thomas Foray (WHH Engineer), Juliana Kpewa (WHH Project Admin) during the formal handing over of the vehicle.
The KNSCC Mayor also promised to take good care of the vehicle by adhering to the procedures stipulated in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The Chief Administrator of the KNSCC, Ahmed M. Lahai expressed delight in receiving such a donation and disclosed that it was the first time KNSCC is benefiting from an organisation in the form of a vehicle.
He maintained that his Council would further cement the cordial relationship they have shared in collaborating with the WHH for a successful implementation of the Waste Management Project in Koidu City. Juliana Kpewa is the Project Administrator of WHH and officially handing over the keys to the Mayor.
It is worth noting that all fuel and maintenance costs of the donated Toyota Fortuner vehicle would be borne by WHH under the Improved Waste Management in Cities Project funded by the Department For International Development (DFID).
Participating in First International Spelling Bee Competition…
By Prince C. Kamara
Speaking to AYV on arrival at the Freetown International Airport, the Coordinator of Initiative for Capacity Building (ICPAB) that organizes annual spelling bees in Sierra Leone, Mrs. Isata Harding explained that the encounter was hotly contested with a total of sixteen African countries participating.
She said the Sierra Leone Team comprising of the youngest participants in the senior category made it to the elimination and came fourth. “To me, it’s very encouraging considering the fact that this is their first time to participate in such a huge international event”, said Isata.
The team comprised of Josephine Blessing Berri – Class 3; Mohamed Amza – Class 3; Isatu Turay – Class 6; Godfreyna Favour Kamara – JSS 3; Christopher M’bawa – JSS 3 and Ishmatu Gbateh – SSS 1.
On arrival, each of them explained to AYV that they were happy for the opportunity to contest in one of biggest clashes of brains in Africa, adding that they were looking forward to participating in other spelling bees in Africa and elsewhere in the world and that henceforth, they were more than determined to study harder in order to become capable to win trophies for Sierra Leone.
They received medals and certificates presented to them by the organizers of the Spelling Bee in Uganda.
His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio is one of the African Heads of State and Government who have been invited to the Russia-Africa Economic Forum in Sochi, in the Russian Federation.
The two-day forum, which started Wednesday 23 October, is an important and much-anticipated milestone in laying foundations for the promotion and enhancement of trade and economic relations among the economies across the African continent and enabling the diversification and deepening of economic collaboration between Russia and Africa.
In his welcome address, host President Vladimir Putin said that economic issues were integral and an actual priority of Russia’s relations with the African countries. He said that developing close business ties would serve common interests, contribute to the sustainable growth of all countries, help to improve quality of life and solve numerous social problems.
He noted that a lot of efforts went into the preparations of the Forum saying that multiple events on specific fields of Russian-African cooperation had been held over the past year. He also reiterated that African countries were becoming increasingly attractive for Russian businesses largely due to the fact that Africa was becoming a global economic growth centre.
“Integration processes unfolding in Africa provide additional opportunities for cooperation. We welcome the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area as part of the African Union and are willing to work with this new entity. We support establishing close working contacts between the EU Commission and the Eurasian Economic Commission. As an active participant in the EAEU, Russia will do its best to facilitate the convergence of trade regimes in the African Free Trade Area and the EAEU common market,’’ he assured.
Chairman of the African Union and also co-chair of the Forum, His Excellency President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said that he was highly appreciative of the attention given by the Russian Federation to strengthen the cooperation between Russia and Africa. He said the Forum was regarded as a platform to develop a relationship for mutual investments and cooperation between the two peoples and therefore commended the Russian Government for perfectly organising the Forum.
President Julius Maada Bio, who was accompanied by First Lady Fatima Maada Bio and other senior members of Government, delivered a statement on Thursday 24 October 2019. Other members of the delegation also participated in various sessions as part of the ongoing Forum.
The Alma Ata Declaration, 1978 made emphasis on primary health care strategy and policies of partial exemption or targeted free health care provision, and the stated ambitions of universal coverage, the health policies implemented in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa have, in many case, achieved significant results, although they fall far short of the finished MDGs and the new SDGs on health.
Following the failure of total free health care provision, introduced in the early days of independence, and the partial failure of user-fee contributions – which did not succeed in making health care accessible to the poorest, despite the principle of exemption for the very poor, which was made possible by the financial contribution scheme – the question of partial or total exemption is back on the agenda.
In addition to prevention policies, some of which require inter-sector cooperation, the crucial objective for health policies is to enable those in need to access health facilities in order to receive essential high-quality care. Reducing the prevalence of diarrheal diseases, for example, depends on providing universal access to a source of drinking water or improved sanitary installations – the role of the hydraulic and sanitation sectors.
As such, despite significant improvements over the last two decades, the health of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa remains well below the global average, or even that of low-income Asian countries.
One of the main reasons – along with under-funding – for this health deficit lies in its dysfunctional and under-performing health systems. A review of the literature shows that because of poverty, utilization of health services remains low. And while the financial barrier is certainly a factor, they are also strongly correlated with the poor quality of healthcare.
When it comes to public health spending, the poorest patients tend to see comparatively little of the benefit. Several studies have shown that better health outcomes could be achieved by focusing on the significant room that remains for efficiency gains.
The chronic underutilization of many health facilities, especially in rural areas – often while other structures are overloaded and despite a generally poor population health – is a serious concern for public authorities. For instance, 40% of deaths among under-fives occur before one month of age (neonatal mortality) whereas they might be avoided by attentive monitoring of mother and child (WHO, 2012).
The main causes of postnatal mortality, meanwhile, are diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, malaria and malnutrition. The treatments are understood, effective, and in theory easy to implement and not necessarily costly (WHO, 2012) but because of several factors not generally available and affordable by the poor.
In practice, despite efforts over the last ten years or more to improve coverage of the target population, the monitoring indicators for the recommended treatments show that coverage is still far from universal. For example, the proportion of under-fives sleeping under insecticide-treated nets is extremely low (17%) and fewer than 50% of children with fever have received any kind of anti-malarial treatment (WHO, 2011). Likewise, the proportion of assisted childbirths and the proportion of women receiving at least four prenatal visits both remain below 50% (WHO, 2010).
Thus, extending critical but very essential health services into poor deprived under-served communities’ lies at the heart of successful health interventions aimed at reducing illnesses and deaths from preventable, easily treatable diseases that daily take the lives of the poor.
India Consul-General to Sierra Leone Harish Agnani
By Amin Kef Sesay
The people of Sierra Leone have been informed by Choithram Hospital at Hill Station that contrary to rumours that the hospital is a money-making machine, yet it is still a charity entity founded and established as a memorial. But better of all is that the hospital still serves the poor people of Sierra Leone. This was disclosed by India Consul-General to Sierra Leone Harish Agnani. He was speaking at a news conference on Wednesday 23rd October, 2019 at Hill Station.
It would be recalled that a statement by the visiting Honourable Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu mid this month was misconstrued and went virile on Social Media that Choithram Hospital is a charitable health service provider but is allegedly making exorbitant money from the public. Other allegations were that the hospital was not giving access to poor people due to its services. This, coupled with the VP’s statement sent shivers in the public and exploited by social media.
The situation has however been calmed down by the Management of Choithram Hospital which told media reporters that Choithram Hospital was not a charitable establishment rather it was registered as a Memorial to the founder, late Thakurdas Choithram Pagarani.
Mr. Agnani further told newsmen that Choithram carries a lot of corporate social responsibilities and philanthropy in terms of medical services for people that cannot afford to pay; as well as annually bringing in specialist medical teams from India, UK and Germany to perform surgeries and other medical procedures that are not widely available in the country and very expensive to perform overseas.
He justified that the hospital has to charge patients for its services which are affordable comparative to other facilities in the country. Since taking over the dilapidated facilities after the end of the civil conflict, it built about twenty new structures, brought in state-of-the-art medical equipment worth millions of dollars, as well as having a staff of about 250 that receive salaries monthly.
In underscoring his stance, Harish maintained that certain customers pay normal costs to aid the running cost since they have to take care of staff, upkeep the facilities and as well maintain various machinery especially the vital and expensive equipment to keep them up and running at all time.
Seth Shri Thakurdas Choithram Pagarani came to Sierra Leone in 1938 and started his own business in 1944 under the name T. Choithram & Sons in a small way that now operates in 27 countries. Speaking about the founder, Mr. Agnani praised Choithram as a great philanthropist who believed in returning a large portion of his earnings to the society through education and medical facilities. He said that his desire was to provide an ultramodern hospital in Freetown to serve the local populace as an affordable referral Hospital.
In order to fulfill his desire, his sons later started commencement of construction work of the Choithram Memorial Hospital (CMH) in 1994, but had to break off in 1997 due to political instability up to 1999. After the cessation of hostilities, the hospital was completed in 2000 and handed over to United Nations Peace Keeping Forces (UNPKF), free of charge, on the condition that medical facilities shall be provided to local population as well. Both the UN and CMH doctors worked together until 2005.
In January 2006, Choithram took over the entire control of the hospital and has since been operating very successfully with a team of Medical Experts drawn from various nations like Sierra Leone, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Nigeria, etc.
A growing concern over wildlife in Sierra Leone, by James Fallah-Williams, has been debunked and put into proper perspective by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Dr. Memunatu Pratt. Ever since the new administration came to office, promoting tourism has been a key focus of the Ministry.
In trying to make a point, James stated how quite recently two leopards were killed by hunters in Kabala, Koinadugu District in the North of Sierra Leone saying it is the first-time leopards have been seen in the region for almost 100 years. One of the dead leopards that was photographed appeared to have been pregnant, even raising concerns amongst rights activists.
Showing grave concern, the act was totally condemned by the Minister, Dr. Memunatu Pratt, who is poised to apply measures that will help to save wild life and nature’s reserves of the country. Further, she is currently securing European and Asian investments that will educate the people about biodiversity. Meanwhile media critics say that despite her European and Asian tours seeking for investors yet they have not yielded fruits and opined that she needs to launch a national campaign that highlights the urgent need to preserve and protect the wildlife of the country.
Instead of mentioning the National Protected Area Authority (NPPA) to be the statutory institution responsible for protecting the wildlife, James erroneously ascribed that responsibility to the Ministry of Tourism which as a matter of fact has been collaborating with the former to enhance tourism in the country.
Just returning from a trip abroad, she told this medium that the International and French Tourism Market (IFTM) Top Resa Exhibition in Porte de Versailles, Paris, France, gave her added knowledge on how to improve marketing tourism as an investment opportunity, especially wildlife.
Asked what her impressions were of the Paris exhibition, the Minister responded: “It looks interesting … We are promoting tourism, but we also need investments. We want investments to support the tourism sector”.
Further, some sections in the media were carrying misleading and subjective articles that attack her work. But the steadfast Minister said that the Ministry of Tourism is not responsible for the protection of forest and wildlife, rather the National Protected Area Authority, and there is a weak link between tourism and wild life in terms of policy. For the Ministry, she added that the policy order has only been developed to warrant direct interventions of protection.
She warned against hunting wildlife because investors go for them to see their natural habitat. “You cannot promote tourism with dead leopards. No foreign investor or country would invest their nationals’ pension funds in a failing system that overlooks annihilation of the very attractions that bring foreign visitors into the country”.
It should be noted that Sierra Leone has some of the rarest fauna and flora, with new discoveries made every few years, but these are being systemically destroyed to an extent beyond comprehension.
The pygmy hippopotamus for example, is found in the Gola Forests of Sierra Leone. It is now classed as critically endangered in the country after the bushmeat trade and deforestation have dangerously depleted its numbers.
In Sierra Leone, people (especially those living in larger towns and cities) pay a premium price for bushmeat. This serves as fuel for the continued and relentless exploitation of wildlife. City criminals have also taken advantage of the situation and have started selling dog meat disguised as bushmeat on the streets.
Those who travel on the highway to provincial towns are often greeted by village hunters selling dead animals and birds – endangered species – by the roadside. The reason the Government has turned a blind eye to this practice is that they do not want to upset their supporters. This is absolute madness, to say the least.
A further contributing factor to the fast-disappearing wildlife of Sierra Leone is state-sponsored logging, which has destabilised wildlife habitats and decimated their populations. On one of our field visits to Eastern Sierra Leone, we came across a 45ft-truck full of red ironwood and other valuable timber heading towards the Guinea border.
This practice has caused habitat loss for rare white-necked rockfowls which are now classed as vulnerable. Picathartes are regarded as some of Africa’s most prized birds, and they have become flagbearers for eco-tourism wherever they are found. They could bring much-needed income to impoverished communities – if only the Government had the political conviction to educate people about their preservation.
The money received from logging is a pittance, and it is incomparable to the damage caused not only to the environment but also to the lives of people. The 2017 landslide that killed over a thousand people on Sugar Loaf Mountain in Freetown is a direct result of logging and land degradation.
Further along the coast from Sugar Loaf Mountain is the No. 2 River, a place where coveted seawater crocodiles are found. The mangrove is also home to green monkeys that have come under sustained exploitation by bushmeat hunters. The river leads to a rocky foot of the mountain beneath Guma Valley, where it abruptly stops and swallows a rushing spring from the hills.
New plant species from the Podostemaceae family are often found in such places in the country. Even here, land clearance, illegal logging and charcoal production have brutally subdued the habitat.
According to an environmentalist, one will be lucky to see any saltwater crocodiles or green monkeys saying such an irresponsible encroachment is killing the whole environment.
As informed Sierra Leoneans, led by the Minister for Tourism, part of our responsibility is to educate the people about the value of preserving the environment. For example, in places such as Turtle Island, sea turtles that used to breed there no longer come; they are hunted for their meat and eggs. Even stranded whales on the sandy beaches of Freetown are killed for their meat by locals and fishermen. This has to stop.
The Sierra Leone authorities have always spoken about modelling their national tourism industry on that of The Gambia. But what they fail to realise is that the government of The Gambia educated its people way back in the 1980s. Killing a bird in The Gambia is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. The explosive birdlife you see today in The Gambia is the result of that sensitisation – today. The Gambia has a diversity of birds unrivalled by any other West African Country. This draws a large number of European tourists to the country. The Gambia also has a wonderfully protected angling haven, which draws thousands of eco-tourists to the country. Well over 70,000 tourists from the UK alone, visit The Gambia every year. But even larger numbers of tourists to The Gambia come from Scandinavian countries.
In The Gambia, historic buildings and sites are also maintained and protected, whereas in Sierra Leone, historic buildings such as the house that was used as the birthplace of the oldest modern university in Africa stands in ruin in central Freetown.
The Parliamentary Chairman of the Tourism Committee, Mohamed Sheriff Rahman Coker MP, recently said that the country can only attract tourists when the government creates an enabling environment and passes appropriate laws.
Coming from its strong position at present, the National Petroleum Company is poised to continue doing business in petroleum products in Sierra Leone. The shareholders and management of the company have long ago decided to give the people of the country accessible and quality petroleum products and services to enhance a standardized environment within the petroleum industry.
This company has gained local and international recognition for its rise to higher heights with effective service delivery. The company always ensures that the general public has easy access to qualitative petroleum products. Customers as well as service providers would attest that the company is one of the most successful privately owned business entities in Sierra Leone and today, it can boast of controlling internal and external shocks.
The 100% indigenously owned and operated company has successfully stretched in the West African Sub-region such as Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and The Gambia with reports saying that it is doing extremely well in service delivery, Corporate Social Responsibility, job creation, new products amongst a host of others.
Customers formed part of a key arm of the NP-SL story as management has made it a priority to become the No. 1 for customer care. It is also open to a receptive behavior that encourages new initiatives, ideas, and suggestions that help to shape the policies of the company.
In order to give maximum satisfaction to customers, NP-SL operates in tandem with international standards and best practices in service delivery, customer care and value for money. The company’s filling stations are now the state of the art structures in the modern petroleum industry. They have brought a sense of competition in the industry that others are marvelling at and compelled to change their brands. Attendants at the stations are well trained and mannered on KYC and ready to assist customers whenever available. The stations have tire repairing sections, shopping marts and relaxation points to spend time.
“I always carry my NP Smart Card with me just in case my car’s fuel gauge will show red and I may not exactly have the required amount of money to refill or even if I have it such could be for another purpose. With my card I can just breeze into any NP Filling Station and by using my card the attendant will pump the quantity of petrol I need,” Amadu Bangura, an engineer said when asked about the card service which has unique security features that could not be easily falsified. “When I first heard of ‘Your fuel on Smart Card’ I thought it was a joke but only realized its efficacy when I started making use of it,” he further said. Customers say that they really find it very convenient in doing business these days with NP because the card makes it easy access to buy fuel rather than going to the bank.
Another important product is NP Gas. It has become talk of town as it is very suitable for cooking purposes and does not pose any health risks. It is manufactured in different cylinder sizes and marketed at all filling stations by authorized dealers at affordable prices; it can also be refilled for use.
On Corporate Social Responsibility, NP-SL Ltd is rated high for its contributions in improving lives and communities. The company has been supporting entities like the National Fire Force by facilitating the construction of a water facility at the Force’s Kissy Branch to provide accessible water supply for sharp responses to fire disasters in Freetown.
These interventions are worth millions of Leones going back to society, with the lives of the people being improved in education, health and other social amenities. Human resource is key in driving change and development at NP. In this way, the company can be far argued to be the only one that has fully implemented the Local Content Policy in enhancing entrepreneurship, employment and poverty reduction. Its employment policy towards indigenous people is replicated everywhere from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, etc.
Apparently, the premier oil marketing company is poised to continue improving on its business strategies.
Chief Executive Officer of Orange Sierra Leone, Aminata Kane Ndiaye and the Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rado Swarray
By Fatmata Jengbe
Orange Sierra Leone in partnership with the Ministry of Information and Communications has on Thursday 24th October, 2019 commissioned the newly rehabilitated Sierra Leone News Agency building (SLENA) on Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown.
In his address to the audience, Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rado Swarray said that when he took over as Minister the Sierra Leone News Agency building (SLENA) building was in a dilapidated state and as a Minister he was very concerned.
He further revealed how he was able to approach Orange for their partnership in order to make the building habitable hammering that Government is committed to ensuring that they empower the media and also create an enabling working environment for journalists.
He applauded Orange for its support in making this dream become a reality. Admonishing the Management and Staff of SLENA he entreated them to always ensure that their work is professionally done within the realm of informing the populace on current happenings.
Chief Executive Officer of Orange Sierra Leone, Aminata Kane Ndiaye, praised the Ministry of Information and Communications for celebrating with them the commissioning of the newly rehabilitated SLENA building for media practitioners, noting that this is part of their commitment in contributing towards nation building.
In another development Orange Sierra Leone has on Wednesday 23rd October, 2019 donated 200 sanitary pads to the Government Technical and Vine Memorial Secondary Schools in Freetown in fulfilment its USD 1.5 million commitment in supporting the Free Quality Education initiative.
Head of CSR of Orange Sierra Leone, Desmond Spaine, while distributing the items, noted that in August, 2018 while President Bio was lunching the Free Quality Education scheme, Orange Sierra Leone made a commitment of boosting the scheme with USD 1.5 million dollars in terms of material supports within a five year period.
According to him, Orange Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education have designed five projects in line with the pledged USD 1.5 million dollars highlighting that the distribution of the menstrual hygiene pads is just one of the five projects. He noted that they at Orange are hugely concerned about the menstrual hygiene of girls in schools and hence they contracted the service of Girl Child Network Sierra Leone who have produced the pads and are also delivering sensitization talks to schools on the direct relationship between menstrual hygiene and teenage pregnancy.
Madam Anita Koroma, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Girls Child Network- Sierra Leone, commended Orange and emphasized that the issue of menstrual hygiene management had been very poor towards addressing teenage pregnancy and other related issues. She urged the girls to responsibly use the hygiene pads for their intended purposes and according to her, the issue of menstruation was inter alia a no-go- area for the girls and boys. She called on boys to support girls during their menstrual period noting that the issue of menstruation was keeping girls out of schools for a whole week. At the Vine Memorial Secondary School, members of the Female Parliamentary Caucus witnessed the ceremony to lend their support to Orange Sierra Leone for coming to the aid of girls going through their menstruation period.
Haffie Haffner, Head of Legal Affairs, Orange Sierra Leone in her keynote statement, said they are in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic Primary and Senior Secondary Education to design projects that will see them expand the 1.5 million dollars in support of the free quality education agenda within a period of five years. She also noted that the provision of two thousand (2,000) hygiene pads to twenty schools in the Western Area for 2019, is the start of a project which will see the distribution of 10,000 hygiene for a period of five years is just one out of five projects Orange Sierra Leone will be rolling out.
Haffie Haffner spoke of the other projects which, according to her include super coding for schools; open Classroom for over one thousand teachers, provision of one thousand solar packs for one thousand village schools and the building of five laboratories for schools that will win the inter secondary debating and quiz competition. All of the projects, she noted, will be implemented. She concluded by noting that all over the world Governments cannot do it alone. The private sector, she maintained, is pivotal to support the Government project and this, according to her, is what Orange Sierra Leone is now demonstrating.
Veronica Kadi Sesay, President of the Parliamentary Female Caucus, encouraged the girls to keep away from sex and concentrate on their studies. She noted that they as female Parliamentarians are ready to support their continued growth and empowerment.
The climax of the ceremony was the presentation of the hygiene pads to the Principal of the Government Technical Secondary School and Vine Memorial Senior Secondary School respectively. Both Principals lauded the efforts of Orange Sierra Leone and assured them that they will do all within their power to ensure that they support the Girl Child while they are going through their menstrual period in schools.
Orange said they are targeting eighteen (18) schools in the next one week and it is expected that a total of 1,800 hygiene menstrual pads will be distributed.
Following the recent outbreak of suspected African Swine Fever in four Communities in Freetown, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation has cautioned the public to stay away from eating dead pigs, as the cause of death of these pigs is yet unknown, but however stated that the disease does not pose any public health threat, as it cannot transfer to humans. This was made known at a press briefing on Monday 22nd October at the Conference Hall of the Emergency Operation Centre on Wilkinson Road in Freetown.
While addressing journalists, Director at the Directorate of Health Security and Emergencies in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Mohamed Vandi has said that the Ministry of Health and Sanitations is concerned on the sporadic occurrence of suspected swine fever in four communities in Freetown (Moa Wharf, Kanikay, Kroo Bay and the Kissy Dump Site (Bomeh) as the country is moving towards One Health, as it seeks the health of both humans and animals; thereby preventing and respond to any disease that affects both humans and animals and of public health concern.
Dr. Vandi cautioned that there is no cause for concern as there has not been any prove as to whether the suspected African swine fever can cause illness in humans, but however warned that. He reiterated that there has not been any instance in which the African swine flew has transferred from pigs to humans, even in countries with confirmed cases of African swine fever.
“African swine fever affects pigs and it cannot transfer to the human population because it is not classified as a zoonotic disease”, Stated Dr. Vandi. He observed that pig farmers now fast-kill pigs that have already shown signs and symptoms of the suspected African swine fever, which he noted is a bad practice and thus puts the health of other pigs at risk.
Dr. Vandi continued that the Ministry of Health and Sanitation together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have heightened surveillance in the affected communities and samples shipped out of the country to ascertained as to whether the disease calming the lives of pigs as a result of the suspected swine fever or otherwise, adding that they were going to embark on a training exercise for the MoHS Community Health Workers and the MAF Community Animal Health Workers to jointly engage these affected communities. “As it stands we are yet to now if the affected pigs are from free range pig firming or those that are in pug pen, all of that we need to know to further plan and protect the lives of other pigs”, Fumed Dr. Vandi.
He stressed that the disease is of no public health threat to human, as the disease is not a zoonotic disease, but however warned the general public to refrain from eating dead pigs or even pigs from the market for now as one can’t ascertain the one the poke that is healthy or not.
