By Amin Kef (Ranger)
Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh the 3rd April, 2023 engaged Private Sector Partners that have been supporting the health sector over the years at the prestigious Radisson Blu Hotel at Aberdeen. The engagement was co-organized by the Office of the Vice President and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
The engagement was co-organized by the Office of the Vice President and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to improve on private sector collaboration and enhance the establishment of an official Health Private Sector Partners (HPSP) group.
In his opening statement, the Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh thanked the private sector partners for their continued support to Government’s efforts as he highlighted some major projects they have undertaken.
He, however, expressed Government’s intention to structure that support so as to better tap into the opportunities offered by the private sector.
The Minister of Health and Sanitation outlined the key achievements of the sector highlighting the numerous outcomes such as the drastic reduction in maternal and infant mortality. According to him, a structured private sector support to health care delivery is vital to improving outcomes.
At the end, a transitional team referred to as Health Private Sector Partners (HPSP) was established to lead in designing a model to better structure private support to the health sector.
The Private Sector Executive meeting was really aimed at bringing private sector stakeholders together, recognize their contributions to the country, and keep to speed with the current state of the health sector in the country.
Speaking at the meeting, the Hon. Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, thanked private sector players for their continued support to the government, particularly in the health sector.
He recalled that certain companies at the height of the COVID health crisis supported Government with finance, medical supplies construction of health facilities, among others.
The main objective of the meeting, according to him, was to see how Government can structure its relationship with the private sector in such a way that it can better tap into the support they give to the health sector.
Dr. Juldeh Jalloh pointed out that when they took office, budgetary allocation to the health sector was 6% but the Government of President Julius Maada Bio has progressively increased it to 8% and presently 11.6%.
He added that this intervention has positively impacted the health sector by reducing infant and maternal death in the country, improve on hospital management and supervision and expanded on healthcare service delivery.
The Vice President encouraged private sector players to also invest in the health sector by way of service delivery in order to strengthen the collaboration and improve the health system of the country, assuring of Government’s commitment to guaranteeing and supporting such negotiations.
The meeting climaxed with the formation of an interim Executive of the Health Private Sector Partners (HPSP) group.
