August 10, 2015 By Victoria Saffa
Tokeh village, west of the Freetown peninsula, within the next three months get a newly constructed medical centre, funded by the Medical Peace Foundation from Korea. The project will cost approximately US$78,000 and will be partly funded by the government of Sierra Leone, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation during a visit to the proposed site for the hospital.
Permanent Secretary in the ministry, David Banya, said in his statement that the project was in fulfillment of government’s expected responsibility to provide medical facility for its citizens.
He disclosed the government will contribute US$38,000 of the project cost. He said it was no secret that the Ebola outbreak affected the country badly, but it has also taught us a lot of lessons, adding they his ministry would take no chances this time around.
The permanent secretary further said government was on the verge of establishing an ambulance service in every part of the country. He said: “As we all know, most times when people get sick they either travel to Ghana or other parts of the world for medical treatment and attention. Government is also on the verge of developing tertiary hospitals that will take care of medical needs of the people, thereby avoiding medical travel to Ghana and elsewhere. This Tokeh project is geared towards developing a health centre and doctor’s dormitory that will serve not only Tokeh community but other communities within the Western Rural District.”
The Medical Peace Foundation is a humanitarian organisation that supports developing countries in the area of health. A representative, Ms. Young Sun Pak said the foundation had constructed medical centres in twenty-one countries across the world, adding that Sierra Leone will be the twenty-second country they are constructing a medical centre.
“We continue to support health initiatives in developing countries through the construction of medical centres. This project will not end just after the construction but will also do exchange visits,” she disclosed.
Welcoming the delegation to Tokeh, Hon. Dauda Kallon of constituency 93 expressed elation that his constituency was chosen to host the hospital, and expressed appreciation to the Medical Peace Foundation. He thanked Ms. Yong Sun Pak for coming to Sierra Leone noting that the country is open to every good gesture.
“Not everybody wants to come to Sierra Leone because of the Ebola and people braving all odds are very much appreciated,” Hon. Kallon said. “We are here today because of the problem in our health sector; this constituency is lagging behind in terms of health facility. We only have one health post which is not equipped to take care of the health needs of the people in this part of the country. With this project the health of our people is now assured, they will no longer have to travel very far distance to access medical facilities.”