Exploring Progress: 25 Key Questions Assessing the SLPP’s Performance in Improving Health Care Since the 2018 Manifesto
By the Sierra Leone Live Team
Greetings to the citizens of Sierra Leone!
Your participation and active involvement in the transformation of the health sector are paramount. As per the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP’s) 2018 New Direction Manifesto, a series of commitments were made to enhance the healthcare services in our country. Today, we present a series of questions based on the manifesto’s pledges, aiming to objectively assess how well these promises have been delivered. These questions are specifically designed to help us better understand the progress made toward achieving the strategic objectives outlined in the manifesto.
The following 25 questions cover six crucial areas: – Health Governance, Health Financing, Human Resource Management, Expanding and Improving Free Health Care Management, Disease Prevention, Control and Surveillance, and Service Delivery. Each question corresponds to a commitment made in the manifesto, and your response will help to analyze the progress made.
We request that you kindly take some time to respond to these questions with a simple “yes” or “no.”. Your responses will aid in creating a constructive dialogue around healthcare improvement in Sierra Leone, and collectively, we can strive toward a healthier future for all.
Health Governance
Manifesto Quote: “The New Direction’s strategic objective in the health sector is to transform the under-resourced, ill-equipped, dysfunctional, and inadequate health infrastructure and healthcare delivery system to make them high-quality, efficient, reliable, cost-effective, affordable, and sustainable, capable of responding to epidemics such as cholera and Ebola virus disease.”
Questions:
- Was the capacity for health planning, management, monitoring, and coordination enhanced?
- Was a new National Health Policy and Action Plan developed?
- Was a robust policy and legal framework for Public-Private-Partnership in the health sector developed?
- Was a new NGO/donor coordination policy developed?
- Was a blood bank policy implemented to ensure that blood is available in facilities at critical moments?
- Were laws and policies relating to regulatory bodies reviewed and made more functional?
- Was the Health Management and Information System (HMIS) strengthened to support informed strategic decision-making?
Health Financing
Manifesto Quote: “Increase budgetary allocation to health and sanitation from its current level of less than 10% to 15% and ensure timely disbursement of allocated resources.”
Questions:
- Was the budgetary allocation to health and sanitation increased to 15% as required by the Abuja Declaration?
- Was the National Health Insurance Scheme reviewed and implemented to provide universal access to health care?
- Were interventions by the government and donors, including NGOs, better coordinated?
- Was the management of all resources allocated to the health sector strengthened?
Human Resource Management
Manifesto Quote: “Improve on the conditions of health workers for all categories to attract and retain them.”
Questions:
- Was the Health Service Commission made functional and a comprehensive Human Development Plan developed?
- Were the conditions of health workers in all categories improved?
Expanding and Improving Free Health Care Management
Manifesto Quote: “Expand coverage for free health care to cover not only children under five years, pregnant women and lactating mothers but to include all school going children.”
Questions:
- Was the coverage for free health care expanded to include all school-going children?
- Was the free health care program legislated?
- Were national, district, and community-based monitoring of free healthcare drugs and services strengthened?
Disease Prevention, Control, and Surveillance
Manifesto Quote: “Improve waste management in growing urban communities.”
Questions:
- Were measures taken to improve waste management in urban communities?
- Were campaigns against diseases intensified and hygienic practices promoted?
- Were maternal and child immunisation programs scaled up and sustained?
Service Delivery
Manifesto Quote: “Increase the number of health facilities to ensure that every citizen can access health facilities within 3 mile radius.”
Questions:
- Was the number of health facilities increased to ensure every citizen can access health care within a 3-mile radius?
- Was a National Ambulance Service introduced?
- Were blood transfusion units established in all district hospitals?
- Was a National Tele-medicine Programme introduced?
- Was a flagship programme for sexual and reproductive health for adolescents launched to reduce teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality?
- Were modern Infectious and Tropical Disease Control Centres established in Freetown and in the regional capitals?
Thank you so much for your time and involvement. We deeply appreciate your willingness to take part in this critical assessment. Your responses will contribute significantly to our understanding of the healthcare situation in Sierra Leone and will help guide the way forward. Together, we can ensure that our healthcare system serves us better and creates a healthier Sierra Leone for us all. Your voice matters; thank you for making it heard.
Take the Survey
https://sierraleonelive.com/survey/fd586191-3634-41df-aa96-ba9f574add6c/
