Sierra Leone News

Freetown, Sierra Leone: From 3–7 February 2025, the Government of Sierra Leone, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), hosted a regional study tour for representatives from six Francophone countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Niger—to observe firsthand the country’s successful implementation of the WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable (PEN) Disease Interventions for Primary Health Care (PEN-Plus) strategy in Kono District.

In an ongoing effort to eliminate cervical cancer, the Ministry of Health (MoH), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Sierra Leone, organized a crucial screening initiative during Cervical Cancer Awareness Month - January. This initiative focused on underserved communities, encouraging women aged 25-49 to take advantage of essential screening services.

Sierra Leone’s National Codex Committee (NCC) enhanced its capacity to engage in national, regional, and international Codex activities, contributing to stronger food safety governance and public health protection. This achievement was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the NCC, with technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and funding from the Codex Trust Fund Secretariat.

For 43-year-old Ramatulai Kamara, a mother of four, the journey with cervical cancer began four years ago when she started experiencing severe bleeding. She sought help at multiple health facilities, seeing different doctors, but the eventual diagnosis brought devastating news: cervical cancer. “When I was finally told what was wrong with me, I cried. I was stressed, and many people said that cancer is deadly. I was also told that my only option was to go to Ghana for treatment, but I had no money for that.

• Sierra Leone becomes the first country, among those most severely affected ten years ago by the West Africa Ebola outbreak, to launch nationwide preventive Ebola vaccination, targeting 20,000 frontline workers who will receive a single dose of Ebola vaccine

Sierra Leone has made a noteworthy leap forward in its fight against cervical cancer, thanks to a two-week South-South collaboration with Zambia, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) in November 2024. 

Freetown, Sierra Leone – The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the National Public Health Agency (NPHA), in collaboration with WHO, UNICEF, and other global partners, successfully concluded the third round of the nationwide polio vaccination campaign. Conducted from September 27 to 30, 2024, this phase covered all regions except the Western Area districts, which followed from October 11 to 14, 2024. 

In a notable step toward improving adolescent health, Sierra Leone marked International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW) 7-13 October 2024 with a series of transformative initiatives addressing the pressing challenges faced by its rapidly growing adolescent population. Anchored by the theme “Thriving, Not Surviving: Building Adolescents’ Resilience,” the week-long activities highlighted the country’s commitment to empowering young people to take control of their health and contribute to national development.