Sierra Leone Telegraph: 25 April 2024:
Following the death of a child at the Freetown Maternity hospital – PCMH on Tuesday, and mounting criticism of government’s indifference in the face of acute electricity outage across the country, the ministry of health yesterday published a statement, promising to put measures in place to prevent suffering and deaths in hospitals due to lack of electricity.
But the statement stops short of supporting calls by many in Sierra Leone for the country’s President to ensure that the ministry of finance can find the cash to pay for fuel that will power generators in hospitals, until comprehensive measures are put in place to sustainably end the nationwide electricity crisis.
This is what the ministry’s statement says:
Why wait until after the death of a child? It is a disgraced that the 5 Mega Watt supplied by Karpowership for essential services are actually diverted by EDSA to the lodge and offices of the president and his wife. Karpowership decided to supply a meagre 5 Mega Watt for essential services while negotiations are going on for settlement of money owed, The question, are the two major referral hospitals (Connaught and PCMH not listed as places that provide essential services?
I will suggest to the parents of the deceased child to take private action against the government, the hospital management and the minister of health.