Sierra Leone — News
Sierra Leone targets cervical cancer mortality by vaccinating girls
An age-old social belief that “what goes on under the cloth should remain under the cloth” is killing women in Sierra Leone.
Read moreSierra Leone — News
Sierra Leone targets cervical cancer mortality by vaccinating girls
Freetown – An age-old social belief that “what goes on under the cloth should remain under the cloth” is killing women in Sierra Leone. “People are dying in silence,” says Dr Desmond Maada Kangbai, the head of the country’s immunization services. He explains that most women affected by cervical cancer are not willing to talk about their condition or even present themselves for screening and thus possibly get a diagnosis early enough to change the course of the disease and their life.
Read moreSierra Leone introduces Human Papilloma Virus vaccine to protect girls from cervical cancer
Joint Press Release - Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Gavi and the United Nations FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - 03 October 2022 - In a move to protect adolescent girls from cervical cancer, the Government of Sierra Leon…
Read moreImproving midwifery capacity and standards to curb death of mothers and babies
Over 80 maternal and child health experts from around the world have concluded a meeting in Freetown aimed at improving midwifery education. The body of experts included health authorities of Sierra Leone, Malawi, Bolivia, Pakistan and Congo, WHO and other global health partners. Their deliberations focused on finding workable strategies that will help strengthen the quality of midwifery education and training to improve standards that will help curb preventable death of mothers and newborn babies.
Read moreNational experts converge to review public health surveillance data in Sierra Leone
Public health experts in Sierra Leone are meeting to review data of the past three months on trend of priority diseases in the country. Drawn from the technical and administrative levels from the national and districts in the country, as well as partners, the experts will monitor and evaluate the surveillance indicators and performance of three key components including disease surveillance, laboratory capacity and the immunization programmes for the period April to June of 2022.
Read moreSierra Leone becomes 38th country with tobacco control laws in WHO African Region
Sierra Leone is now the newest of 38 countries in the WHO African region to have enacted a bill into law to protect its population against the harmful effects of tobacco and nicotine products. The Tobacco and Nicotine Control Act of 2022 was unanimously passed into law on 3 August 2022 by the country’s law makers
Read moreWHO and MoHS conclude quarterly review of 2022-2023 workplan, and discuss priorities for new Country Cooperation Strategy
The World Health Organization Country Office in Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation have completed a 3-day quarterly meeting in Freetown to jointly review progress of the 2022-2023 Biennial Workplan implementation and initiated discussions for priorities setting for the next biennium 2024-2025.
Read moreWHO strengthens oxygen supply capacity of health facilities to care for critically ill patients in Sierra Leone
On 30 May 2022, WHO donated 900 oxygen cylinders with regulators and humidifiers to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation as a response to the need for oxygen in public health facilities across Sierra Leone. This is because the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in the Sierra Leone health system's ability to respond adequately to patient needs, especially the provision of life-saving medical oxygen. Each of the cylinders been donated can hold 40 litres of oxygen. The total cost of the donation cost more than USD200 000.
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