The purpose of issuing free medical service in Sierra Leone is [originaltext]

In one month’s time, the country will launch an ambitious plan to provide free health care to lactating and pregnant women and children under five, in an attempt to reduce maternal and child mortality in the country. Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Lack of essential drugs to keep pregnant women and young children healthy is a major hurdle to providing comprehensive care. Lianne Kuppens leads UNICEF’s child survival and development team in Sierra Leone. She says the drugs are essential, if some of the people in the country are to achieve real free health care. "The drugs, indeed worth around $7 million are in line with the national essential drugs. It is a list which has been combined, which has been made with all the stakeholders in support of the government. And, it is covering diseases like diarrhea, like malaria, like pneumonia, all the basic diseases that people face and then, of course, we try to address the most vulnerable among all of them." The drugs will also address conditions such as diabetes and hypertension that put pregnant women at risk for complications during pregnancy.