By: Amara Kargbo
Health Alert Sierra Leone, an organization that works on health advocacy in promoting women and children in sexual reproductive health has requested one percent (1%) of financial budget allocation from the government through the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to address critical components of their work across the country. This was disclosed at the ongoing budget discussion on Monday 16th October, 2023 at the Finance Ministry in Freetown.
Executive Director of Health Alert Sierra Leone, Mr. Victor Lasana Koroma explained the rationale for such a request is to fulfill government’s commitment to providing one percent (1%) of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s budget for the Family Planning Scheme.
He said that commitment was made in the FP 2030 which was signed by the Minister, and such request is a reminder for the government to ensure it fulfills it.
Mr. Koroma equally said the government signed a Compact agreement with the UNFPA, that gears toward making sure women and children are prioritized in gender and also enhancing sexual reproductive health issues that government signed are addressed too.
The organisation also realized that domestic financing is critical, but recognized that within the country there has not been strategies as how to generate local revenue to support health. So one of its calls is government to increase domestic revenue mobilization to support health care service delivery.
Mr. Koroma highlighted that the 1% budget allocation is to ensure that the report which showed over 91,000 of young girls adolescent girls between ages 12 to 19 years in 2021 had an induced abortion simply because there were not adequate funding for planning commodities and that infant maternal mortality stands high even though the report presented by government depicts “they have move from 717 to 443,” yet, as an organization the report is unacceptable.
With all of these concerns, Health Alert Sierra Leone is repositioning the government through the Ministry of Finance to make sure that the Ministry of Health and Sanitation budget is increased because the government committed itself in 2021 to the “ABUJA TARGET” to 15% but this percentage is not met in Sierra Leone instead it is around ten percent (10%) which he conveyed it is unseemly because other countries in the sub-region that were signatory to this agreement have reached their target while Sierra Leone is still grabbling to reach its targe.
Mr. Koroma informed that the ABUJA TARGET needs to be achieved to deliver a dividend where at least the health indicator of the country can be reduced in infant maternal mortality, and teenage pregnancy rate which is extremely high within the sub-region.
Without any iota of doubt, the finance technical team together with participants from different regions who represented their respective districts at the hearing had unanimously agreed that the SLE 202.993 million that the Ministry of Health and Sanitation is requesting needs to be approved.
He noted that Health Alert Sierra Leone is now pushing by setting up committees, including Civil Society Organizations.
The organization will ensure that they will implement the intended fund for the benefit of women and children who are dying and ensure those monies are well utilized for the purpose that is intended.
The government has prioritized Human Capital Development and for this year, out of the Big Five Game Changer Programme, the government has decided to feed the nation, but he said there is no way a farmer can have the energy to work without sound health. He said even though the government has laid priority on agriculture but they believe “health is number one priority that should be paid attention to.”