By Mohamed K. Turay
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Prince Cole, has informed officials of the Ministry of Finance, representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the media that his Ministry spent over twenty-two million Leones (new) of its budget on overseas medical treatments for 104 persons which is eating a chunk from their budget.
Prince Cole made that revelation at the ongoing budget hearing at the Ministry of Finance, George Street in Freetown, during the presentation of his Ministry’s proposed annual budget.
He, therefore, appealed that the issue of overseas medical bills be transferred to the Ministry of Finance since it was the Ministry in charge of disbursing monies.
The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary also decried the Finance Ministry for abandoning the 305-acre propose medical village at Kerry Town which had now been occupied by encroachers.
He also disclosed that the Lumley Hospital whose construction started seven years ago was yet to be completed and that now the structure had become an eyesore due to lack of commitment by the Kuwaiti government.
Mr Cole disclosed that people had been dying of cancer because the country lacked a diagnostic centre. He called for the need to set up such a centre to avoid spending huge sums of money on overseas medical trips.
Prince Cole stated that revenue generation by the hospitals remained dismally low and needed to be upgraded to cushion whatever the government was providing.
On his part, the Executive Director of Health Alert, Victor Lansana Koroma, said health was a big concern which was why he was calling on the government to meet its 15 percent Abuja commitment.
He also expressed dismay at the late disbursement of funds to the Health Ministry when he learnt that only one quarter of its budget had been disbursed while the two remaining quarters were yet to be disbursed.
Victor Lansana Koroma also advocated for a special budget for family planning, considering the number of illegal abortion cases countrywide.