February 16, 2018 By Kadrie Koroma
Cross section of the audience
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Princess Christian Maternity Teaching Hospital (PCMH), with support from Doctors with Africa (CUAMM), has held its 2017 Annual Health Review Meeting on Wednesday February 14, 2018, at the John James Complex, Jenner Wright Road in Freetown.
The Annual Health Review Meeting was conducted to share data on activities of the hospital during the period 2017, and to engage key stakeholders in the effort to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone.
The Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the Princess Christian Maternity Teaching Hospital, Prof. Edward Ejiro Emuveyan said the PCMH is a tertiary referral hospital for Obstetric and Gynaecological cases.
He said it was established in 1925 be the Anglican Diocese of West Africa originally conceived as a cottage hospital, and later handed over to the government of Sierra Leone who named it Princess Christian Maternity Hospital.
Dr. Emuveyan informed his audience that with the modest beginning, they find out that the hospital today delivers well over 5,000 women every year, adding that presently they have three lecturers from COHMAS who are Honorary Consultants to the hospital and two Consultants from the University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospital.
He reiterated that there has been over the period an increase in all activities in the PCM Hospital in 2017 when compared to 2016, and thanked CUAMM their Italian colleagues for the support given to them in the day to day activities in the hospital.
Speaking on behalf of the Hospital Service Coordinator, Dr. Alimamy Philip Koroma, the Specialist Anesthetist, Dr. Michael Koroma said the development of the 2017 annual review of the PCMH, the main referral and teaching hospital complex has been successfully done, and expressed thanks to all those who served in the team to develop this important document.
He mentioned the high level cooperation and collaboration of their partner in development, CUAMM, stating that their efforts were geared towards the objective of developing a thorough and useful document for the hospital, hoping the spirit of cooperation will continue to flourish from strength to strength.
He further hope the document will serve as an important point of reference on issues pertaining to the reduction of maternal mortality in the country, adding that it will also help improve the quality of services delivered at the PCMH and Sierra Leone as a whole.
CUAMM Director, Dr. Dante Carraro said Doctors with Africa is pleased to be part of the process of transforming the PCMH into a teaching hospital, and therefore, CUAMM would like to take the chance to reinforce their commitment to work with the Health Ministry.
He told the gathering that with team work, collaboration and dedication they would be able to overcome the challenges in reducing maternal mortality in the hospital and expressed gratitude to the staff of the hospital.
WHO Lead, Reproductive and Maternal Health, Dr. Fatu Forna commended the doctors, nurses and staff of the PCM hospital more especially CUAMM for the support to the hospital although there are challenges in the mortality rate in Sierra Leone.
She said with the hard work of all stakeholders put together they would seriously fight to decrease maternal mortality in the country.
Highlight of the meeting include presentation of PCM Annual statistical report including wards activities, Blood Bank activity, infrastructures and services, antenatal care, drugs management, Major Direct Obstetric Complication (MDOC) and mater death by Dr. Enzo Pisani, round table discussion, and suggestion to improve the management of the hospital.