Statements and Webcast
Sierra Leone
H.E. Mrs. Zainab Hawa Bangura, Minister of Health and Sanitation
9 June 2011
- Statement: English (Check against delivery)
Statement Summary
ZAINAB HAWA BANGURA, Minister for Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone, said her country had a five-pillar approach to fighting HIV/AIDS. The pillars were “know your epidemic”, a final joint programme review of the 2006-2010 National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS, developing a national strategic plan for the years 2011-2015, developing a national monitoring and evaluation plan for the period 2011-2015 and developing a two-year operational plan for the 2011-2015 period.
She went on to say that her country’s health-care infrastructure was overstretched and characterized by a shortage of skilled health-care personnel, which had left Sierra Leone struggling to reach high-risk groups. Sustaining whatever gains had been made so far required resources well beyond the capabilities of the country’s small economy, she said, adding that it needed sustained support from partners in order to realize Millennium Development Goal 6. Sierra Leone’s needs should not be assessed on the basis of its HIV prevalence, but rather on the structures and initiatives it had put in place, she said.
Source: GA/11090