By Amin Kef Sesay
Based on a request put forward by the Well Woman Clinic situated at Aberdeen to the Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, for assistance, who in turn asked the assistance of the Chinese Embassy in Freetown, medical equipment and ancillaries were handed over by the Chinese on the 13th October 2021 at the Clinic in addition to what the Government provided.
The Well woman clinic is a health service provider that focuses on cancer care, maternal and neonatal health care and wellness care amongst others.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Well Woman Clinic, Jennifer Renner- Thomas, informed that the clinic started off as a breast cancer clinic after their family lost her younger sister to fourth stage breast cancer. She furthered that her family deemed it fit to open a breast cancer screening clinic for under–privileged women using their dwelling house.
“We gradually advanced to catering for the holistic well being of a woman,” she explained.
Madam Renner-Thomas, said the clinic was constrained with a Triage Centre and they met the Honourable Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh for support. She expressed gratitude to the Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, the Minister of Health and Sanitation and the Chinese Ambassador in Sierra Leone for promptly coming to their aid.
The Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr. Austin Demby said the vision of His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio is to provide healthcare services for all Sierra Leoneans. He stated that through the Ministry of Health, Government supports both public and private healthcare centres especially those giving special services such as cancer screening.
He described Well Woman Clinic as an important clinic, adding that Government has provided support for them with health care workers, electricity and medical supplies. He emphasized that the clinic supports Government’s plan to provide health care services to all Sierra Leoneans by providing antenatal and neonatal services to women amongst other services.
He commended Well Woman Clinic for their contribution in the healthcare delivery to the people of Sierra Leone.
The Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone, H.E Hu Zhangliang, said the Honourable Vice President was concerned about the operations of the women’s clinic and approached the Chinese Embassy for support to them, which he said the Embassy was able to provide the sum of Le 390,000,000 (three hundred and ninety million Leones) as support to the clinic.
He said they were happy to provide the support, adding that he is impressed by the popularity of the clinic and the quality of the services they provide for the people.
The Ambassador pointed out that health is one of the major areas of Sierra Leone – China friendship cooperation noting that, China has been providing support in building health infrastructures and giving technical expertise in the health sector by training medical doctors, lab technicians and other health workers. He commended the Government of Sierra Leone under the leadership of President Julius Maada Bio for making good use of the health support China has been providing to Sierra Leone especially during Ebola and COVID-19.
The Honourable Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh in his remarks, said the Well Woman Clinic is a clinic that provides excellent services to women and that maternal health is one of the New Direction Government’s priority areas. “As a Government we have provided support across the country for the health sector, recruited more health workers, increased budgetary allocation, and we are making efforts to get specialist trainings for our doctors,” he disclosed.
Vice President Jalloh maintained that supporting such a clinic is part of increasing on Government’s health portfolio. He explained that Well Woman approached Government with a request for a Triage Centre for preliminary screening of their patients based on which the Government reached out to the Chinese Government for assistance. The Chinese Embassy, he went on, provided over three hundred million Leones which Government directly handed over to the clinic.
The Honourable Vice President said they are impressed with the services Well Woman Clinic provides for the people of this country.
He emphasized that Government, under the leadership of President Julius Maada Bio, feels obliged to provide support at all levels where health care services are concerned.
The program was climaxed with a conducted tour of the clinic’s facilities and the symbolic handing over of drugs and other medical supplies.
