Access to Healthcare Facilities

Per the World Health Organization, Global Health Observation Data Bank, there is only one healthcare facility per 100,000 people in Sierra Leone. From the Western perspective, this may not seem that dire. However, what is defined as a “healthcare facility” varies greatly depending on population concentration. These facilities could range from hospitals with larger staffs and patient capacities, to small urban clinics. Regardless of size these facilities can become overwhelmed, and do not have the resources to support centralized populated areas. In rural areas, facilities are defined as small clinics with just 2-3 staff members helping large portions of districts.

Rural hospitals, similar to PRHeSS Hospital, are few and far between. With 60% of the country’s population living in rural areas, the effect of infrequent location of rural healthcare centers is amplified greatly.

The roads leading to these clinics are subject to deterioration during the wet season. These dirt roads turn to 100 mile mud paths during the heavy rains of wet season, rendering them impassable. The road conditions prevent those in need of medical care from getting to a clinic. Some will still try to pass, despite the horrid conditions, and many die along way.

PRHeSS’ Hospital is located in the Fallay Wujah province in the Jong Chiefdom (30 miles southwest of Bo, Sierra Leone). Fallay Wujah is home to about 10,000 individuals, which is considered a large rural population. At the start, our focus was bringing aid to the immediate community. As our organization has grown, we’ve begun to acquire more resources allowing us to expand our target population. Our goal is now to provide accessible healthcare to neighboring communities. We invested in the improvement of roads to our clinic, allowing people from outside of the community to easily travel to and from for medical treatment.

For instance, Sierra Leone was heavily impacted during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic. According to the CDC outbreak index, the country had 8,706 confirmed cases of virus. Of those infected, there were 3,956 confirmed deaths.

Experts attributed the pathogen’s rapid spread to lack of public education on sanitation and disease prevention tactics. Trusted radio and TV stations were not broadcasting consistent or accurate information about the virus. Misinformation spread rampantly around the country, which ultimately resulted in a distrust of hospitals and myths about the virus. People thought that the virus was nosocomial, and did not seek treatment or screening after coming into contact with someone who had Ebola. This greatly exacerbated the effect of the disease.

During the Ebola crisis, PRHeSS worked hard to educate community members and neighboring communities on what Ebola is, how it is transmitted, and what actions to carry out to lessen the risk of exposure. The information was spread by word of mouth, starting through the village leaders, who then shared the information with their sectors of the community. In addition to the education campaign, PRHeSS was able to raise $7,000 in emergency action funds to afford personal protective equipment for staff members and the community.

PRHeSS’ efforts resulted in zero Ebola transmissions or deaths in its community.

After the Ebola crisis, PRHeSS realized the need for a more effective communication method in its community. After reaching out to donors, PRHeSS erected a radio tower which prompted the creation of a local informational radio program. This tower is used to relay important health, safety, and weather information to the community. It is currently being put to use as a trusted information source for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

According to the World Health Organization’s, Global Health Data Bank, as of 2014, Sierra Leone only has two CT scanners in the entire nation or .0328 CT Scanners per 1,000,000 people (total population of about 7.7 million in the country).

The need for this equipment greatly outweighs the accessibility. For instance, cancer is classified as a public health emergency in Sierra Leone. According to the World Health Organization’s, Global Cancer Observatory data bank, there are about 4,000 new cases of cancer per year, and 3,000 deaths as a result of cancer. However, if there was improved accessibility to CT scanners in the country, this death rate would likely decline as CT scanners can help detect the illness earlier, increasing the odds of survival for many types of cancer.

In West Africa, it is common for high survivability types of cancer to result in death because early detection was not an option. Again, cancer is difficult to combat, but death rates could be significantly lowered if resources were provided to spot and treat cancers at a manageable stage.

There is also a great need for more Ultrasound devices in the country. This is an essential instrument to ensure healthy and safe pregnancies. PRHeSS recently acquired an Ultrasound device that was given as an in-kind donation. This has been a great addition to our maternity ward in the main hospital building. Women in the community now have a resource to ensure their pregnancy is progressing healthily.