The hallways were beautifully designed with exhibition booths that showcased different healthcare products and the main amphitheater was packed with a highly expectant gathering. This year’s greatly anticipated “National Health Summit and Performance Awards 2025” was officially declared open on Thursday this week by the Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby, much to the excitement of an overwhelming crowd.
Sierra Leone’s health sector is on a transformative journey; one that has shifted healthcare delivery from disease centered care to focusing on the individual; client-centered approach. This strategy redirects all medical interventions to zoom in on a nexus of the person using the innovative life stages approach, which tailors health services to the person from conception to old age.
The President, Dr. Julius Maada Bio, in his government’s “Big Five Game Changer and the Human Capital Development Pillar,” boldly prioritizes healthcare as the country seeks to achieve universal health coverage. Marked by real improvements, evidence suggests that Sierra Leone is on the right track to overly transforming its healthcare landscape.
So, why hold a summit in the middle of rising Mpox cases?
Even as excitement for this year’s health summit continues to spread far and near, there are genuine concerns and questions about why this event is being held in the middle of a surging MPox outbreak. The Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby, is sure that there could not have been a better timing for such an important activity to be held than now.
The Ministry of Health believes that this summit provides an incredible opportunity for the sector to critically reflect on how well it has done in the last few years, what are the ongoing challenges and find ways of addressing the problems. The Minister succinctly summarized the value of this summit and why now is the right time for it to be held.
“We know where we are. This health summit is not only a ceremonial event that focuses on news headlines, optics and applause. It’s a call to action. A call to reflect on how well we have served the people of this country. It’s also a moment to ask, with urgency and honesty, what more we can do to honour the trust of our citizens.”
According to Dr. Demby, during this summit, the power of the community in responding to outbreaks like the one we face now will be highlighted. Panel discussions that will feature representatives from rural areas, MPox survivors and religious leaders will be held. The aim is to engender frank exchanges of ideas on how the government can address the spread of the virus and break the chain of transmission in communities.
Besides Mpox, other topics of relevance including how the country can build on the ongoing successes in healthcare infrastructure, including the electrification of over 200 peripheral health units and 11 government hospitals with renewable solar power will be discussed. More importantly, Minister Demby stressed the need for everyone in the health sector to not lose sight of other health conditions even in the wake of rising MPox cases.
“We must not drop our guards in catering for people with other medical conditions besides Mpox. Lessons have taught us that more people could die of other illnesses than ongoing outbreaks if the healthcare sector loses grip of comprehensive service” he said.
He concluded that the healthcare ecosystem will be honest to acknowledge mistakes and weaknesses, but also brave to institute reforms that will address inefficiencies in service delivery.