The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law, Sierra Leone (CARL-SL) welcomes the Government of Sierra Leone’s
reported procurement of $2.5 million worth of essential drugs and sexual and reproductive health commodities for
distribution to health facilities nationwide. “This investment demonstrates Government’s continued commitment to
protecting critical health services for women, children and families across Sierra Leone,” says the Minister of Health, Dr.
Austin H. Demby.
CARL-SL recognises this investment as an important step towards strengthening maternal and child healthcare, and
protecting the lives and dignity of women, girls, newborns and children. At a time when Sierra Leone is intensifying efforts
under the 300 Days of Activism for Triple Zero, ensuring the availability of life-saving drugs and reproductive health
commodities is critical.
However, procurement is only the beginning. The real measure of success is whether these commodities reach the people
who need them. CARL-SL therefore calls on the Ministry of Health, and National Medical Supplies Agency to ensure that
the entire supply chain—from procurement, storage, transportation, distribution and utilisation is transparent, traceable
and accountable.
Specifically, CARL-SL urges the Ministry of Health to:
Publish a distribution plan showing the health facilities and districts receiving the commodities, quantities
allocated and expected delivery dates.
Strengthen independent monitoring so that civil society actors, communities and other stakeholders can verify
that commodities reported as delivered are actually available at health facilities.
Establish accessible complaints and feedback mechanisms through which patients, health workers and
communities can report stock-outs, diversion, unofficial charges, expired medicines or other irregularities.
Ensure equitable distribution, particularly to rural, hard-to-reach and underserved communities where shortages
can have devastating consequences.
CARL-SL welcomes the Government’s stated intention to track these commodities from NMSA stores to health facilities
and calls for this mechanism to be sufficiently transparent to enable meaningful public oversight. Public resources must
deliver public results. No woman should lose her life because a life-saving drug was procured but failed to reach the facility
where she needed it. No health worker should be expected to manage a medical emergency without the essential supplies
required to save life.
CARL-SL therefore calls on the Government to make this investment a model of transparent, equitable and accountable
public health spending, with regular public reporting on distribution, availability, stock-outs and corrective actions.
The public have a right to know how public resources are spent. Patients have a right to receive the healthcare and drugs
they need. And Government has a responsibility to ensuring that every dollar invested in saving lives delivers the intended
public benefit.
CARL-SL will continue to monitor developments and encourages citizens, health workers and civil society actors to remain
vigilant and use appropriate accountability mechanisms to report credible concerns regarding the availability, distribution
or misuse of essential health commodities.
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