Sierra Leone News

Ministry of Health and Sanitation held its second quarter 2011 Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) review meeting on 21-22 July 2011. The objectives were to discuss surveillance performance at national and district levels and to prepare plan for the next quarter. Participants of meeting included Directors, Programme Managers, and District Medical Officers, National and District Surveillance Officers. WHO provided financial and technical support for the meeting.

The Executive Representative of the UN Secretary General (ERSG) in Sierra Leone, Mr Michael Von-der Schulenburg made a working visit to the WHO Country Office on 19 May 2011. The purpose of his visit was to be updated on the work of WHO and interact with Staff Members.

Sierra Leone commemorates World Breastfeeding Week from 1-7 Au-gust 2011 on the theme Talk to Me! Breastfeeding - a 3D experience. The theme highlights the importance of communication, information and experience sharing in protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding. The occasion was launched by the Minister of Health and Sanitation Hon Zainab Bangura. The MOHS also launched “We Pikin Network” (Our Children’s Network) initiatives which is a com-munity support group to promote exclusive breastfeeding.

The Sierra Leone Health Sector Steering Group (HSSG) held one of its regular meetings at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) on Tuesday 17 April 2012. The meeting was Chaired by the Hon Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation and co-chaired by the Director of Planning and Information. In welcoming the partners, the Director of Policy, Planning and Information, Dr Magnus Gborie said that the regular meetings have helped to strengthen coordination among health partners in supporting the Joint Programme of Work and Funding (JPWF) 2012-2014.

The Sierra Leone Psychiatric Hospital with support from WHO, EU and the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS) on 12 April presented the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) to 21 mental health nurses-in-training at the psychiatric hospital in Freetown. The intervention guide was provided to the trainees for use during the course of their training and to guide them in identifying priority mental health conditions after completion.

In this Issue:

1. Healthy Lifestyle

2. Strengthening Lab Database for Disease Surveillance

Introduction

Sierra Leone is faced with the double burden of communicable and Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs). Available hospital data indicate that in 2011 more cases of diabetes (352), hypertension (4207) and cardiovascular disease (284) were reported.

Sierra Leone commemorated World Health Day (WHD) together with other WHO member states on 7 April on the theme: Ageing and Health, with the slogan: Good Health Adds Life to Years. Activities to mark the occasion included a 5 Kilometre walk along the Lumley-Aberdeen beach. The walk was facilitated by the Ministry of Health & Sanitation (MoHS) and WHO. It drew participants from different groups including sport clubs, UN agencies, NGOs, government departments and the general public.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) conducted a stakeholders’ consultative meeting from 8-9 May 2012. The purpose of the meeting was to seek stakeholders input, build consensus and develop a road map in finalizing the draft National Human Resources for Health (HRH) Policy and Strategic Plan for Sierra Leone.
The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kisito Daoh, in his opening statement said that the meeting should serve as an opportunity for stakeholders to make inputs into the documents which will inform & advise the Ministry in addressing HRH challenges.

Sierra Leone joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Malaria Day today 25 April 2012 on the theme “Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in malaria”. A local slogan: “Mosquito Net!! Malaria Free. Sound Sleep” was also chosen by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) to raise awareness on malaria prevention and control in the country. In a nation-wide broadcast the Minister of Health and Sanitation Hon Zainab Bangura, officially announced free treatment for confirmed malaria cases for all age groups in the country at government health facilities.

A team of senior officials from the directorate of Post Graduate Training, Non-communicable Diseases and Research in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, on Thursday 29 March paid a courtesy call on the WHO Representative, Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu. The purpose of the visit was to update Dr Alemu on the on-going support for the introduction of local post graduate training and Continuing Professional Development that WHO is supporting. The team was led by Dr Donald Bash Taqi, director of the programme.