During a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation conference room on Monday 14August, 2017, Dr. Sarah Kamara, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer said that malaria is a serious health concern for this country and as former head of the malaria control program in the ministry, she was happy that the embassy has provided a training course that is designed specifically for Sierra Leone. She also talked about the different case management approaches and combination therapy used to treat malaria and stressed the importance of the course to the participants. Many staff of the ministry has benefitted greatly from these training programs including herself; she commented. She encouraged the participants to take advantage of the opportunity and learn new skills which they can replicate in the various workplace when they return. during the training as others have done in the past. Dr. Sarah Kamara concluded by thanking the Economic and Commercial counsellor Mr. Shen Xiaokai for the Embassy’s continued support.
During his remarks, Mr. Shen Xiaokai, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Freetown congratulated the 30 participants. He told the audience that some 46 years ago China and Sierra Leone established bilateral relations and two years later, China started sending medical teams to Sierra Leone. He stated that the topic of the seminar was tailored specifically for Sierra Leone as a means of China’s support in the fight to eradicate malaria. He reiterated the embassy’s commitment to work even closer with the Ministry in capacity building, and promised to provide 100 spaces for short term training courses and seminars for doctors and nurses of Sierra Leone in 2018 . He concluded by handing over 30 flight tickets to Dr. Sarah Kamara for onward distribution to the participants.
William Tilima Pessima, one of the health Care workers gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the participants. He thanked the Economic Counsellor for providing the opportunity for them, and promised that they team will work hard during the training in China.
