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WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 1STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY JULIUS MAADABIO, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRALEONE, AT THE CONFERENCE OF THE WESTAFRICAN COLLEGE OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY(WACN&M)/15TH BIENNIAL GENERAL MEETING/24THSCIENTIFIC SESSION AND 39TH COUNCIL MEETINGIN FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE - 19 MARCH 2019
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 2The honourable Vice President,First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone,Ministers of Government,Members of Parliament,Our revered local and religious leaders,Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps,Our development partners,Fellows of the West African College of Nursing,Fellows of Sister Colleges- West African College ofPhysicians, Surgeons, and PharmacistsLocal and Religious Leaders,Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:Good afternoon
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 3It gives me great pleasure to welcome each and everyone of you to this conference and to the Republic ofSierra Leone.Whenever so many midwives and nurses gatheraround someone, their next line is normally“Congratulations, it is a boy or a girl or you havetwins.”As for midwives, I have never seen a profession soobsessed with delivery, delivery, and more delivery.But let me heartily welcome each one of you to thisevent where you are discussing how to improve yourservice to humanity. On behalf of the people ofSierra Leone, I want to thank you immensely foryour service and dedication to the nursingprofession. My government is pleased and honouredto host the 15th Biennial General Meeting/ 24thScientific Session and 38th Council meeting inFreetown, Sierra Leone.
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 4I am always curious but eternally thankful about hownurses and midwives combine their professionaltraining with acute critical thinking and mix all ofthat with compassion, care, communicating withempathy, and building trust as caregivers. Their ess as the only source of hope to thepregnant, the ailing, and the sick; and their ever calm,dignified, and transformative poise in the face ofchallenges, is always a source of great comfort.Thank you again for your service. Let us give them arousing round of applause.The aims and outcomes of this conference align veryclosely with my flagship programme – investing inhuman capital development. As I have emphasizedseverally, human capital development involvesfeeding the mind through free quality education,feeding the body with food security initiatives, andtaking care of the human body through delivering
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 5affordable and quality healthcare. Only an educated,productive, and healthy population can drivesustainable development in a nation. So the work thatyou do is a critical baluster for sustainable nationaldevelopment.I have also emphasized that the Sierra Leone of nowand of the future is not the Sierra Leone of the pastthat floundered in a morass of mediocrity. The SierraLeone of now and of the future is one that embracesa culture of excellence. So this conference is verynear and dear to my heart because it is all aboutrenewing a commitment to excellence throughinteractions with other practitioners in the subregion, sharing best practices, presenting groundbreaking research and new knowledge, andreminding one another of a shared sense ofaccountability, integrity, and professionalism in thenursing practice.
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 6I am informed that papers have been presented oneverything from clinical practice, hicalstandards of practice, to nursing and midwiferyeducation. This can only have a positive impact forimproving professional and clinical expertise andpractice. I am also gratified to see nurses, interprofessionalengaginginconversationsabout how to improve overall health outcomes forpatients in the sub-region. This should lead naturallyto more collaboration across borders tunities across the sub-region.Let me digress for a moment and bestow specialpraise on our midwives. For every new child that youmidwife; for every mother’s life that you save duringchildbirth, thank you. The great work that you do forhumanity often gets reduced to statistical figures
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 7about maternal and child mortality. For me, every cryof a new born baby and every smile of a new motherreminds me as a leader that I must work even harderto support, and continue to advocate for and invest inwomen’s health and in primary and maternity healthcare services.But such investments by us leaders in improvingnursing care and practice must be purposeful andwell-anchored on key staples.First, we should invest in excellence in midwiferyand nursing education. We must encourage rigourand sustained standards of excellence in the nursingeducation curriculum and in clinical practice. Part ofthe objectives of the free quality educationprogramme is that we can create a highly educatedcohort of citizens available to opt for the nursing andmidwifery professions. As a government, we willinvest in incentives and tuition schemes to defray the
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 8cost of their training and education. My government,through the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and theMinistry of Tertiary and Higher Education, isworking to improve the quality of nursing educationaround the country while training increased numbersto meet the needs of a growing population. In linewith our emphasis on capacity building, mygovernment also fully supports advanced nursingand midwifery training both in Sierra Leone and inthe sub-region. I therefore hope that in addition toknowledge sharing, this conference also placespremium on technical expertise and knowledgetransfer by opening up opportunities across the subregion for advanced training and placement ofadvanced and specialist nursing practitioners andeducators.Next, my government recognises and grants nursesthe professional autonomy and authority to makeprofessional decisions and act freely in accordance
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 9with their professional training and expertise. To mymind, this recognition empowers nurses to providenursing care within the full scope of their practice.But this also should be balanced against concernsabout patient safety and patient health outcomes. Iam therefore encouraged that in Sierra Leone, as inparts of the sub-region, a regulatory nursing andmidwifery council has been set up that will overseeoverall professional standards of nursing practiceand ethics and also monitor service delivery topatients. Rest assured that government fully supportsthis professional regulatory body. Its constitutionprovides for leadership and governance of opment needs of the practitioners, and providesa point of contact for partnerships within the subregion and with multilateral development partners.Further, my government is working to address theworking environment and conditions of our health
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 10care professionals. Government has increasedbudgetary allocation to healthcare to 15% of thenational budget. We have also undertaken al health units, and provided free ambulanceservices in various districts across the country. Thegovernment recognizes and appreciates the numbersand the tremendous work nurses and midwives dowithin the healthcare workforce. Government,through the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, hasalready increased the of allowances for all healthprofessionals effective this January 2019 by 100%.We will continue to do more by providing theenabling environment, equipment, and facilities tosupport our nurses and midwives.We have also worked with our development partners(especially the UNFPA and WHO) to develop thefirst ever first ever Nurses and Midwifery StrategicPlan for Sierra Leone 2019-2023. The strategic plan
WEST AFRICAN MIDWIVES AND NURSES 11lays out six major pathways for developing thenursing education and practice in Sierra Leone. Mygovernment fully supports the implementation ofthis well-thought-out, integrated and holistic strategyfor changing the health outcomes of our citizensthrough enhanced recruitment and training of ngthening professional standards and leveragingthe benefits of partnerships across the region, andworking with development partners. This is good fornursing practice across the sub-region and good forSierra Leone especially.With this therefore, I formally declare thisconference open and launch the first ever Nursingand Midwifery Strategy 2019 – 2023.I thank you.
Mar 19, 2019 · bio, president of the republic of sierra leone, at the conference of the west african college of nursing and midwifery (wacn&m)/15th biennial general meeting/24th scientific session and 39th council meeting i
