Blair discusses free health care in Sierra Leone
25/02/2010
Sierra Leone could be on the verge of attaining free health care for pregnant women and children under five following a visit from Tony Blair.
The former British prime minister met with the country's president, Ernest Bai Koroma, to discuss the prospect.
Blair is in the west African state as part of his African Governance Initiative - aiming to improve authority in the continent and help countries develop their private sectors.
He said: "The idea is that if you provide the health care free, more people will access the service and more children and mothers will stay alive."
It is hoped the implementation of such a policy might stem the country's death rate among pregnant women and children - the highest in the world according to the World Health Organisation.
This trip is Blair's third to the country since he and President Koroma launched the initiative in 2008 and he visited Rokupa Government Hospital to see what changes had been made in that time.
Written by John Curtis
