Sierra Leone News

Freetown 30 July 2014 - His Excellency President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone visited Kenema and Kailahun on 28 and 29 July respectively to assess the level of the  ongoing Ebola outbreak in the two districts. This is the first visit of the President to the two epicentres of the outbreak since the onset of the disease in May this year. 

FREETOWN –1st May 2014 - The Minister of Health and Sanitation Madam Miata Kargbo launched the Sierra Leone Malaria Indicator Survey 2013 during World Malaria Day 2014 held at the Saint Anthony’s hall in Freetown. The Minister applauded the progress made in malaria control noting that “we have a reason to celebrate our achievements” She commended the efforts of Ministry of Health Staff and partners for their contribution but pointed out that the country has to do more to reach its goal.

Background

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the first international health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO and was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2003. It has since become one of the most widely and rapidly embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations, with 176 Parties to date.

The Republic of Sierra Leone ratified the WHO FCTC on 22 May 2009 as the 165th country to do so. The Convention entered into force for Sierra Leone on 20 August 2009.

Preliminary report of Sierra Leone’s 2013 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) was launched on 28 January 2014 by Dr Keifala Mara, Minister of Finance and Economic Development in Freetown. The report was launched in a gathering of a cross section of the public and government officials, development partner including the UN, the donor community, civil society and other strategic partners.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) launched Sierra Leone’s national Policy and a five year Strategic Plan (2013-2017) on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) on 6 September 2013. The documents were launched by the Minister of Health and Sanitation Madam Miatta Kargbo during a symposium on the prevalence and burden of NCDs in the country. In addition a health fair was held to raise public awareness on the major risk factors of NCDs.

Sierra Leone will conduct maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination (MNTE) validation survey in April 2013. The exercise will be conducted in Port Loko District which has been one of the high risk districts in the country and will be carried out by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation with technical and financial support of WHO and UNICEF. The survey will target all live births delivered between 1 March 2012 and 1 March 2013 as well as women within the reproductive age bracket of 15-49 years.

The training targeted health workers from Kambia, Port Loko Districts and the Western Area. The cadre of the participants included medical doctors and nurses, national and district disease surveillance officers, laboratory tech-nicians, pharmacists, M&E and health education officers as well as sector partners such as the Office of National Security.

Sierra Leone launched the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Initiative on 2 October 2012 in Freetown. The event was launched by the Vice President (VP) of the republic, Chief Samuel Sam Sumana on behalf of His Excellency Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. The launch is a demonstration of the high-level commitment of the government and its leadership in the Initiative.

The World Health Organization is supporting a five day theoretical and bench training of laboratory scientists and technologists on identification of bacterial pathogens, at the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory (CPHRL) in Freetown.

As of 24 August, 2012, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone has reported a total of 12,819 cholera cases with 224 deaths since January 2012, affecting 10 of the 13 districts in the country. The overall case fatality rate is 1.7% but has reached 14.6 % in Moyamba district. The majority of the cases, 48% have been reported from Western area where the capital city, Freetown is located. The highest number of new cases for the day were 190 and 40 reported in Western Area and Bombali respectively. None of the districts reported any deaths.