Project Summary
Following 12 years of civil war, which ceased in 2002, Sierra Leone is slowly rebuilding its basic services, infrastructure, economy and governance.
Transaid has undertaken an initial fleet inventory and analysis for the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and, provided donor funding is available, we anticipate that this will lead to the full implementation of a comprehensive Transport Management System.
The Problem
Sierra Leone is now beginning to recover from the civil war and focus on long term development goals, but it faces some major transport related barriers to achieving these. The road network in the country is poorly developed and there is a massive unmet need for transport in moving health supplies and equipment to rural communities and from the port of entry to storage facilities.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation is committed to improving maternal health and reducing mortality rates of children under five years old, two of the Millennium Development Goals. At present, children only have a 1 in 6.5 chance of reaching their fifth birthday. The vast majority of rural community health workers do not have any means of transport to carry out primary healthcare services to communities. The bulk of vehicles, which have usually been provided by donor agencies, are concentrated in the towns and the district capitals. Motorbikes and bicycles, needed most in rural areas, are scarce commodities and what vehicles the Ministry does have are inefficient and a drain on resources.
The Process
Transaid undertook an analysis of the transport system within the Western Area of Sierra Leone including the capital, Freetown, Kambia, Port Loko and Tonkolili districts. The goal was to examine if any of the elements of the Transaid Transport Management System were already in place and which elements were needed.
Partners
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone
The Results
Transaid found that decisions within the Ministry of Health and Sanitation regarding the utilization, maintenance, management of transport are conducted on an ad hoc basis. Some districts had as few as 7 vehicles and motorbikes. A third of vehicles are in poor condition, or are at the end of their life and there are a lack of tools for basic planned preventive maintenance. There are no dedicated transport officers, vehicles are allocated on a first come, first served basis and there is no way of measuring how the quality of transport impacts on the delivery of health services. However, there is the political commitment to restructure and reorganize the transport function of the Ministry and individuals and the initial study was met with a high level of co-operation and commitment.
The Impact
Transport has a huge potential to contribute to the country’s priority Millennium Development Goals. If transport is well organised and efficiently managed it will help to make healthcare more available, particularly for those in rural areas. If donor funding is granted, Transaid will seek to implement a full Transport Management System. This will improve the reach and efficiency of the vehicles that are available, help the Ministry to secure donor funding for more vehicles, and enable them to specify the type and quantity of vehicles that are needed to give the people of Sierra Leone greater access to basic health services.
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