SIERRA LEONE: Pregnant Women Still Denied Lifesaving Medical Care- Amnesty International

Source: All Africa
Freetown — In its new report, At a Crossroads: Sierra Leone's Free Health Care Policy, officially launched on Tuesday September 6, Amnesty International has revealed that pregnant women and girls in Sierra Leone continue to face serious challenges in accessing the drugs and medical care crucial for safe pregnancy and childbirth.

Based on research carried out by Amnesty International in two separate missions during 2010 (May and October) and subsequent desk research and interviews conducted in 2011, the report says despite the major initiative launched the government in April 2010 to provide free care to pregnant women and girls, many of them are still being asked to pay for drugs which they cannot afford.

According to Amnesty International's Health Policy Coordinator, Rajat Khosla, the organization has been campaigning since 2009 to ensure that women and girls living in Sierra Leone are able to realize their maternal health and sexual and reproductive rights.

The government's initiative, which came after Amnesty International published a report, Out of Reach: The Cost of Maternal Health in Sierra Leone, that highlighted the range of barriers faced by pregnant women while trying to access emergency obstetric care services, is said to have critical shortcomings in the Sierra Leonean health system which continues to impair women's access to essential maternal healthcare services and are crucial for achieving and sustaining the objectives of the free health care initiative.

However, according to a release from the human rights watchdog yesterday, gaps continue to persist in the implementation of the initiative and much remains to be done. It says it welcomes the positive feedback received from the Ministry of Health on this report and is working with the government and other local partners to ensure that the Free Healthcare Initiative is implemented effectively in Sierra Leone in order that pregnant women and girls are able to access the healthcare they need to deliver safely.

"Amnesty International welcomes the positive response received from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation on sharing this report with them, but the planned reforms must be translated into action," the release stated. "Amnesty International is calling on the Sierra Leone government to strengthen and establish systems of monitoring and accountability to ensure health care interventions are accessible to women and girls and to guarantee their access to effective remedies for violations of their human rights."

Amnesty International's Africa program director, Erwin van der Borght said: "The health care system remains dysfunctional in many respects. Government figures show that since the introduction of the Initiative, more women are accessing antenatal care and delivering their babies in health facilities. However, many women continue to pay for essential drugs, despite the free health care policy, and women and girls living in poverty continue to have limited access to essential care in pregnancy and childbirth."

Sierra Leone