Sierra Leone News

Sierra Leone has just recently wrapped up its final Maternal and Child Health Week campaign for 2016, known locally as 'Mami en Pekin Welbodi Week', which targeted 95 percent children under five with lifesaving vaccines. Earlier campaign rounds achieved up to 97 percent coverage to protect children against polio, measles and other major childhood diseases. 

New data released today by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and WHO shows that community engagement efforts reached more than 20,950 households over seven months in 2016, approximately 117,000* people,  through community meetings, events, door to door visits and vibrant peer support groups.

FREETOWN, 13 January 2017 --- One of the two sites used in the second phase of the Sierra Leone Ebola Virus Persistence Study was handed over to the Lungi Government Hospital on Thursday 12 January after the closure of the study.  The facility and equipment which included three large tents, office materials, hygiene materials and other supplies will be repurposed for antenatal care and services for people living with HIV/AIDS.

On Friday 24th February, Sierra Leone launched its first National Immunisation Days for 2017, which aim to protect all children less than 5 years of age against polio. Routine vaccinations will also be done for children aged 0-23 months.

Polio is a devastating virus, for which there is no cure. It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours. It can be prevented through immunization. Given multiple times, the polio vaccine almost always protects a child for life.

Tackling maternal mortality is among the most critical priorities for Sierra Leone. Today, much is being done to improve the quality of healthcare before, during and after women give birth.

Taking data from 2015, it is estimated that every day, the equivalent of eight women lose their lives during pregnancy and childbirth. This is an immense tragedy for families, for communities, and for the nation as a whole.

Currently Sierra Leone’s largest every survey of health facilities is underway as part of an extended Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA+), which aims to provide critical data and information on health service quality and availability right across the country. It will also enable comprehensive mapping of current health services.

Today WHO Sierra Leone released its latest Progress Report, which documents achievements and lessons learned across the health sector over the course of 2016. This was a milestone year as the country strove to advance the post-Ebola Presidential Recovery Priorities (PRPs) as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The PRPs entered their second phase in 2016 and include commitments to:

FREETOWN, 24 March 2017 - On World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the Government of Sierra Leone together with the World Health Organization and CISMAT called for united action to end TB in Sierra Leone, which is one of 30 countries globally with a severe burden of the disease.

FREETOWN, April 7th 2017 --- On World Health Day, the Government of Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization, the Mental Health Coalition and partners are calling for urgent action on depression in Sierra Leone, which affects at least 240,000 people in the country every year. Stigma and lack of accurate information on mental health issues are critical impediments to treatment and recovery, health experts say.

A new SMS-based reporting system has been introduced in Sierra Leone to improve identification, detection and reporting of suspected acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases in children less than 15 years, with the initial training of 520 health workers and community informants.