Hannah+K.+-+ASID+-+SP13

** Dr. Kisito Sheku Daoh, chief medical officer in Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health **

 * Sierra Leone is a small country in West Africa. They are still recovering from their civil war which ended in 2002. It is one of the wettest places on the west african coast and their environment is currently suffering from over-population. They export a lot of diamonds, coffee, and fish. Sierra Leone has a poor economy with a GDP/capita of less than 2,000. **

=

 * Dr. Daoh has worked in the areas where they offered free (emergency) obstetric care. He has trained many workers in Sierra Leone and has personally been involved in the process of improving the health care system in Sierra Leone. **=====

** Safety and Rule of Law **

 * Although the health system is Sierra Leone has many many flaws, we can assume that they have a decent government. While the health system is currently one of the worst in the world, steps are being taken to improve it. Whether or not, the government is funding and actually doing most of the work is one thing, but even if they are not actually doing anything the government plays a large role in what gets done because they get to decided what NGO’s they will allow into their country and what those NGO’s can do. If the government decides to let in only a NGO’s and severely limit what the NGO’s can do, not much will get done. Since steps are being taken to improve the health system, we can assume that the government generally cares about the #|people and their well-being and is doing the best that they can with the few resources that they have. **

=

 * Because of that the fact that maternal/infant mortality is so high, we can assume that human rights are not equal for everyone. Since women and infants are not getting the healthcare necessary for survival at that stage of their life, we can assume that at least on some level women and infants are being treated as second-class citizens. **=====

=

 * 1) The infant/mortality rates are so high because women in the country do not have access to emergency obstetric services. Organizations in Africa have proven that state of the art health facilities are not necessary to drop the mortality rate. What they have proven was necessary was emergency obstetrics care, and access to trained medical staff for pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children under 5. The running costs of these facilities are less than $5 per person, a insignificant amount of money in the US. However Sierra Leone’s government does not have the funds available to adequately provide for their citizen’s health care needs. **=====

=

 * 2) Another way this affects the economy, is that if 77 babies are dying every 1,000 births, that is 77 people that are not growing up to contribute to society, to better the country, to help the economy grow, or to reproduce. Also, if we are losing 890 mothers for every 100,000 births. This will hurt the economy as well. If they die in labor they will not able to grow old and pass on their knowledge. Also, if the mothers dies during birth, a child is 10 times more likely to die prematurely. Without these members of society, the economy has suffered greatly. **=====

=

 * Sierra Leone ranks very low in this category; the 5th worst in the continent ahead of only The Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, and Somalia. In the breakdown of this category, they scored very poorly in Health. Sierra Leone is the 3rd worst country in the continent in health; only Chad and Somalia are ranked poorer. This is in part because of the very low Maternal/Infant mortality rates as well as the lack of easy access to healthcare in the country. Sierra Leone is 3rd in the world for maternal mortality and 12th in the world for infant mortality. This is mostly because of the lack of emergency obstetric care. This is an easy fix, albeit a pricey one. An organization started a clinic with free emergency obstetric care. The maternal/infant mortality rates in that area improved by up to 75%. This solution cannot be easily implemented though because the government does not have the funds to provide emergency obstetrics care. **=====

Works Cited "Access to Emergency Care Significantly Reduces Maternal Mortality." Africa News Service 20 Nov. 2012: n. pag. Print. "Reducing Fees to Lower Child, Maternal Mortality Rates." Africa News Service 24 June 2011: n. pag. Gale. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. "Sierra Leone." CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency, 5 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. "Slashing the Mortality Rate in Bo." Africa News Service 23 Nov. 2012: n. pag. Gale. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.