Think Ambitiously on Behalf of the Poor
By Bailor Barrie
I believe every human being deserve high quality health care, but impoverished people have been denied it most, so we need to prioritize them first. Disease causes more suffering for poor people, as such I believed that poor people should be giving preference in health care.
I founded Wellbody Alliance and the Wellbody Clinic in eastern Sierra Leone in 2006, shortly after the decade long civil war ended because I believe that health is a human right. As a young physician, I was committed to ensure that poor people in Kono District, one of the poorest regions of Sierra Leone, have access to high quality health care.
I knew what it was like to be poor. I grew up in extreme poverty. My family did not have enough food to eat, and my parents struggled to pay for my school fees. As a child I supplemented what little money my parents had by selling candy and kerosine. It was through these small jobs that I raised the money to attend primary and secondary school.
I understand how poverty places barriers to access to health care because most times as a kid when we got sick, we are either taken to a native doctor or went to a pharmacy for care. My mother did not do this because she did not trust modern health care, but because she could not afford it. Many families like mine do the same thing for the same reasons. I studied hard and was awarded one of two national scholarships available to students in Sierra Leone. I decided to go to medical school, which was only possible through my merit award. But even with the financial support, I faced additional financial barriers. I had to walk seven miles to school in the morning where I would borrow a textbook and copy it by hand. After my lectures, I would return home, walking seven miles. I walked in order to save money — my scholarship covered tuition expenses, but not my living costs.
When I finished medical school, I decided I wanted to dedicate myself to supporting the poor in my country. I chose to stay in Sierra Leone, and I am grateful that I did, because in 2014, I was able to work closely with Dr. Paul Farmer during the Ebola outbreak. And throughout our time working together, I learned so much from him.
I partnered with PIH because I believed in their mission: to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. We spent years slowly growing our work and providing more access to care for the poorest people in Kono. Paul taught me early in our relationship to think ambitiously on behalf of the poor people I was serving.
It was through this ambitious thinking that there would be impact in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, its health indicators are very poor, and its health system is weak. The work to strengthen the health system is challenging, but we are partnering directly with the Ministry of Health to improve access to high quality care. In the epicenter of maternal mortality, PIH Sierra Leone is building a state of the art 166 bed maternity hospital. This hospital will not only serve women and children in Kono, but will serve as a training institute where the next generation of qualified clinicians (doctors, nurses and midwives) will learn the art of medicine in Sierra Leone. In 2018, Sierra Leone had 150 physicians for a population of 8 million people.
This is an injustice that can only be corrected with additional training programs. And the need for these programs, linked to teaching facilities and mentors, are urgently required. To strengthen such a weak health system requires bold, ambitious steps, and long-term commitments with the MOHs.
Paul once told me that not being ambitious means not considering the poor. He adds that if you ask the poor and vulnerable about what kind of healthcare they want, they will all say they want the best health care possible for anyone in the world. It is the same I would want for my family. Therefore, high quality healthcare should be available for all in the world, regardless of where you live or how much money you have.
Dr. Bailor Barrie is the Executive Director of Partners in Health-Sierra Leone. Dr. Barrie grew up in rural Sierra Leone and was one of the first students to graduate from Sierra Leone’s new national medical school. Upon graduation, he was offered well-paying jobs with international organizations but instead he founded Wellbody Alliance in Kono district, a clinic offering healthcare to the poor in a district heavily affected by the country’s civil war. The organization grew to become a general healthcare provider offering programs for HIV, TB, maternal and child health. When Ebola struck Sierra Leone, Dr. Barrie built a partnership between Wellbody and Partners in Health that was instrumental in establishing PIH operations in Sierra Leone. In 2021, Dr. Barrie took over as Executive Director for PIH-Sierra Leone. In addition to his training as a medical doctor, Dr. Barrie holds a Master of Medical Science in Global Health Delivery from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Barrie is a PhD Candidate in Global Health at the University of California, San Francisco and conducts research on COVID-19 in Sierra Leone.