Freetown – Sierra Leone currently sits at the foot of the 2007 UNDP Human Development Index. However, it’s a place it should not hold for much longer, if Marie Stopes Sierra Leone (MSSL) has the impact it anticipates on the nation’s health. In its drive to become the biggest, best and most sustainable family planning organisation in MSSL is now regarded by many in the country as ‘De Mammy For Welbodi’, which is Krio for ‘The Mother of Health.’
As part of its goal to achieve nationwide coverage by the end of 2009, MSSL has opened four new centres, established three new outreach teams and secured 76 BlueStar franchisees in the last six months alone.
One of those centres is in Kailahun, the town from which the Revolutionary United Front launched its decade-long war in 1991. Even after seven years of peace, this community remains one of the most remote and deprived in the country and MSSL was immensely proud to open the centre here.
Yet MSSL’s expansion has not just been on the supply-side. It has also placed new emphasis on evidence-based demand generation, with radio commercials promoting the benefits of long term and permanent methods.
The programme continues to also be known for its innovations. Thanks to MSSL, women can now get implants and emergency contraception for the very first time. It’s also taking a leading part in the MSI pilots for the Inflow Inventory System and the Research & Metrics Dashboard, both of which will lead to improved operational performance.
Developing the already positive relationship with the Ministry of Health & Sanitation has also been on the agenda. MSSL took the Deputy Health Minister and two of his staff to Kenya recently, to consider both that country’s and Marie Stopes Kenya’s progress.
Country Director for Kenya, Cyprian Awiti and his team were impeccable hosts, setting up a meeting with the Kenyan Health Minister, as well as convincing the team from Sierra Leone about the power of social franchising and the urgent need to paramedicalise tubal ligation.
In the opinion of a recent Medical Development Team auditor, MSSL’s Obstetrics Centre in Freetown continues to provide excellent care in an incredibly challenging environment. Both donors and government now recognise its importance not only as “the best place to have a baby in Freetown”, but also its vital role as the ‘de facto’ emergency obstetrics care facility in the country. Soon the centre will have the equipment to match the skills of its team and the role it is being asked to play.
Sierra Leone’s renaissance continues!