Sierra Leone News : MOHS to Establish National Emergency Medical Service
Minister of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), Hon. Dr. Abubakarr Fofanah has on Sunday, 7thAugust, 2016 during a phone call interview with Awareness Times Newspaper, explained the need for a functional National
Hon. Dr. Fofanah saaid the current system for providing emergency medical services is not optimal and requires improvement. With seed funding from the World Bank, the MOHS is desirous to establish a NEMS system in the country, he said.
NEMS, the minister said is to reduce the burden on health personnel. He further said, the service will enhance effectiveness in emergency response, and would be a mode of employment for more than 6,000 Sierra Leoneans. Whilst complimenting the effort of MOHS, president Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors (SLAES), Yusif Kabba during a phone call interview with Awareness Times Newspaper said emergency response is very vital in a post outbreak nation like Sierra Leone. Mr. Kabba said, had emergency response been in place before the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Outbreak, many of their compatriots who died, would have been saved. He therefore thanked MOHS for the outstanding undertaking, and promised his associations fullest commitment to ensuring that the motive of the service is achieved.
In the contrary, national secretary general of the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP), Isata Abdulai-Kamara overwhelmingly disagreed with the position of the Ministry. Madam Isata said that the issue of manning ambulances goes beyond not only recruiting ambulance drivers. She said, the ministry must note that drivers must also be trained in the field of medicine, and that could only be achieved if the activities of ambulances are controlled by hospital authorities. She therefore called upon the ministry to have a rethink so as to save unavoidable risks.