On the 30th May 2019 a delegation from the Mercy Ships led by its Chief Executive Officer, Donovan R. Palmer, paid a courtesy call on His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio at State House.
Mercy Ships is an international faith-based organisation bringing hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor. Since 1978, the organisation has delivered services to more than 2.71 million direct beneficiaries.
Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Anthony Sandi, who chaired the meeting, said the team was visiting the President to discuss their intention to support the health system in the country. He said the team was planning to bring into the country the largest clinical ship, adding that they had already done site visits to the proposed venue for the ship.
The CEO said they were excited about coming back to the country to provide assistance in terms of improving the country’s health delivery system. He said that Sierra Leone was a special place to them and that they value the partnership they had enjoyed with the nation.
“We are interested to assess Government’s healthcare plans for the next five years so that we might fit in. We have now added training and capacity building into our programmes in line with Government’s agenda for human capital development and also are looking at new possibilities on how we can help you realise your vision for the national healthcare programme. We are here to serve and to be part of your plan,” he assured.
In his brief response, President Bio said he was very excited about the possibilities of having the team back into the country. He said the country is still struggling to provide adequate healthcare service for the people. He said having the team again in the country is a welcome idea and that would help to look at more areas of intervention.
