Letters from Israel

A letter from a past scholarship recipient

I am currently in Sierra Leone, working for Médicos del Mundo-Spain (Doctors of the World, not to be confused with Doctors without Borders). I am conducting an analysis of the health system here from a human rights-based perspective.

This is the third poorest and third least developed country in the world. They finished their eleven year war in 2002, and had free and democratic elections in 2007. The government is showing effort in building up its infrastructure and fighting corruption, but nevertheless, one in eight women still die when giving birth. This is the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Children under five years also die at an alarming rate, often from preventable causes such as diarrhea (caused by lack of access to safe water and sanitation).

My organization is here working to support the government in providing healthcare services. We support rural health clinics in providing drugs, training, wells and other support. Recently, the government implemented a program to provide free services to pregnant and lactating women and children under-five. Before, women would often die because they lacked the $3-$15 necessary to give birth in the hospital (70% of people here live on under $1 per day) -- so they gave birth without trained assistance at home. This program is laudable, but there is much work to be done. The country only has 78 doctors for a population of 5.5 million. I recall that you were a dentist -- there are six dentists in the entire country. It is difficult to get medicines and equipment to the rural areas -- the roads are bad and often unpaved, making them basically impassable during the rainy season. ~S.S.