It is known that ‘health is wealth’ and the English proverb also say that ‘health is better than wealth’. But our authorities do not seem to be convinced of these facts.
Their lackadaisical approach to health issues have resulted in hundreds of thousands meeting their untimely death.
There have been publications in the print media that laboratory tests in government hospital are free, which are equally false from the publishers and false to the readers.
The government ought not to be peddling lies especially in matters of life and death. It does not measure up to the dignity of the New Direction Paopa government. What is worse is that No RECEIPTS are ever issued to the patients for the hundreds of thousands paid to these medical mercenaries who go by the names of Community Health Officer (CHO) and nurses etc.
This correspondent watched with horror patients at the Waterloo Health Centre dying within an hour because they could not afford the hundreds of Leones at the triage.
They were simply turned away in spite of the mournful pleas of their families and relatives. Our correspondent shed tears to see human souls take wings because of woeful deprivation of what was their rightful entitlement.
The curious fact is that all these health officials who have turned themselves into sadists are paid regularly every month from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and all the instruments used in testing are provided by government. At the end of each day, monies from the triages are distributed from CHOs to CHWs to nurses etc.
This is not the first time this ugly situation has been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. It would appear that the incumbent Minister of Health and Sanitation is complicit in this matter of unlawful composition of fees on poor and sick Sierra Leoneans.
It is like that, if patients are tested free of charge as by law, Ramsey Laboratory that is owned by Dr. Ahmed Wurie would lose thousands of patients; therefore, he feigns ignorance of the situation.
The practice is that those turned away from the government triages for lack of money end up at pharmacies that would invariably prescribe the wrong medicines because of wrong diagnosis.
Even those who can afford to pay the illegal fees have the additional burden of paying for drugs with money already deducted by the government shylocks.
It is high time that the Anti-Corruption Commission signs a Memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
Citizens of this mineral and natural resource rich country deserve FREE QUALITY TESTS (FQT) like the FREE QUALITY EDUCATION (FQE).