It is a sunny day in West Point, one of the many slum communities in central Monrovia. This community is not only noted for crimes and violent acts by some former ex-combattants who have now turned into drug addicts, but is also noted for it’s filthiness. Many residents here are living in a deplorable state, something they say will create a health disaster if urgent measures are not taken to combat the growing wave of illness and disease in the area.

The Star of the Sea medical clinic is the only referal health center in West Point. A woman only identified as Mrs Bryant is one of the chief medical officers at this clinic. She says that the cases most commonly reported are malaria and diarrhea, which are caused by mosquitoe bites and contaminated drinking water.

“The huge pile of garbage and the pollution of the air as a result of some detroyed latrines are the major factors contributing to the increase.”

Mrs Bryant also noted that access to clean drinking water, which is important for every living being, is one of the problems facing the residents here. As a result of lack of safe drinking water, both children and adults are constantly diagnosed with diarrhea.

“Some of these illnesses are sometimes referred to bigger hospitals because of the lack of proper drugs to treat patients here,” she explained.

Mamie Gbarto is a patient at the clinic, who recently gave birth prematurely. She has been here for nearly three days. She says the health conditions in West Point are deplorable, and she is calling on government and humanitarian organizations to come to their aid.

David Mulbah works at a nearby drug store.

“Since the inception of the government of President Johnson-Sirleaf,” he says, “no concrete steps have been taken to address the many health issues confronting this community.”

Mulbah believes that the health conditions in the area will not improve if Government continues to abandon the plight of the people.

Most of the housing facilities in West Point are make-shift – something the residents say is further contributing to the health disaster looming over the community.

“My daughter is always sick because our house is leaking very badly,” says Monica Lee, a marketeer. She says mosquitoes, cockroaches, and flies have infested the area, spreading germs which contribute to high fevers in residents.

“The unfortunate thing is children are always the victims.”

Photo credit: David Vaucher (http://www.panoramio.com/user/166000?with_photo_id=3869193)

Radio Kergheamahn Joseph Kerkulah explores why pregnant women in northern Liberia are dying at such a high rate. Liberia has one of the worst records in the world for pregnant women dying due to complications arising during pregnancy or childbirth. Kerkulah and jhr trainer Bonnie Allen travel to a rural village that does not have a medical clinic to interview midwives, pregnant women, and the families of women who died. The team discovers access to healthcare is particularly difficult during rainy season.

AIRED: First aired July 28, 2009. It was featured on a program called “Healthy Body.” It has since re-aired three times. Furthermore, an extended interview with Maternity Ward Supervisor Comfort Neufville also aired twice.

Click here to listen

jhr trainer remarks:
There are several successes in this piece. The reporter Joseph Kerkulah interviewed ordinary women who have never had the chance to speak out before. Normally, he avoids interviewing Liberians who speak a local dialect, such as Kpelle, because his program is in English. I showed him that we cannot discriminate against people due to language, and demonstrated how to translate interviews and edit clips with English voice-over. He also, for the first time, used natural sound in a radio item.

One in eight pregnant women in Sierra Leone has a chance of dying at childbirth. Due to the lack of adequate medical services, they are being denied their basic human right to maternal health. According to UNICEF, presently Sierra Leone is ranked the worst country in the world in this respect.

Maternal mortality is a very complex and critical problem. David Shermutt of Amnesty International feels that it amounts to discrimination against women. “Governments should put more emphasis on this because it is only women who are dying,” he said.

Among the challenges faced by the gobernment are hospital conditions i.e. conditions of service for meducal and health workers, hospital policy and equaipments. There is no proper record system to record deaths cases as medical doctors are unable to account for deaths. There is the fear of cost factor as some women don’t go to the hospital because of the registration fee they have to pay.

There is also poor access to health information. There are primitive conceptions held by people living in rural and provincial areas; some women prefer traditional midwives who are not trained and use unsterilised equipment.

When President Ernest Bai Koroma came to power, he made combating the high rate of maternal mortality a priority of his government and launched the Reproductive Child Health Programme in February 2009. To combat and reduce the high rate of maternal mortality, the government and other major stakeholders including UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO have put in place various strategies.

According to Jonathan Abbas Kamaram the Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the government has shown its strong commitment to take up this situation. They are trying to introduce a policy to cover free cost of reproductive health. “We are trying to make free care accessible to all pregnant women in the government hospitals,” he said.

The government is now on a caravan campaign to sensitise the mass public on the situation and how best we could prevent it. They are trying to encourage women to avoid local herbalists and go to the hospitals. At the same time they are also looking into condition of service for medical and health officers to avoid brain drain of experts. Recently the ministry launched the ‘mami en pikin well bodi week’ which is one of their initiatives to combat maternal mortality.

However, more needs to be done in terms of practicalisation. According to Dr, Rashidatu Kamara of Connaught Hospital, “the government should also try to combat the high rate of teenage pregnancy.” Solomon Sobangdi, coordinator at Amnesty International feels that instead of talking endlessly about it, the government should enforce practical measures. There needs to be more education, stronger monitoring and increasing women’s awareness of their right to emergency obstetric care.

For more information contact Jonathan Abbas Kamara, Ministry of Health and Sanitation at 076678021

Photo Credit: http://sierraleone1968-70.blogspot.com/2008/09/warren-van-hoos-was-peace-corps.html

Kumba Kamara stranded on the side of her house.

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It seems nothing galvanizes us more than the state of our health care. Wherever we live in Canada, and in North America , we find the system wanting. But it is a system most can only dream about.

In Sierra Leone, it is often a struggle just to stay alive. Here most people don’t have access to proper health care so they go without, or rely on traditional medicine to heal the sick and wounded. In today’s installment of ‘Postcards from Sierra Leone’, Rachael Borlase learns how some of world’s poorest patients are being treated.

jhr Trainer, Rachael Borlase, worked on a six-part series about life and work in Sierra Leone. Her adventures and reflections were broadcasted on CBC Radio throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.