26.06.2025
Doctor Deficit Straining Sierra Leone's Healthcare
Overwhelmed hospitals, overworked doctors and long wait times for patients. That’s the daily reality in Sierra Leone, which now has only 800 doctors left for eight million people, as health professionals leave the country for better opportunities abroad. Public healthcare systems are struggling too, with underfunded hospitals and demotivated staff. Coupled with rapid population growth, the gap between the number of doctors and the people who need care continues to widen. Healthcare is a cornerstone of societal well-being, ensuring that individuals not only survive but thrive. However, across Sierra Leone, the ability to deliver quality healthcare is hampered by a glaring shortage of doctors. This severe shortage results in overburdened healthcare workers and delayed or inadequate medical care. In regions where preventable diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS are still prevalent, this shortage becomes a life-or-death matter. Women in rural areas often face high maternal mortality rates due to limited access to prenatal and postnatal care. Similarly, patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes or hypertension may go undiagnosed for years due to a lack of specialists.
Credit: TRTWORLD
Credit: TRTWORLD
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
