Sierra Leone News

• 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. 

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.

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. 

The Sierra Leone WHO Country Office has made great progress in promoting physical activity in the workplace through weekly aerobics sessions and monthly walks. Taking inspiration from the DG, Dr Tedros, and the RD, Dr Moeti, and in alignment with the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity (GAPPA) mission statement, the office is working diligently to ensure all staff have access to safe and enabling environments as well as diverse opportunities to be physically active in their daily lives.

To enhance Sierra Leone's polio surveillance capacity, a team of Environmental Surveillance (ES) experts from WHO Regional Office for Africa visited the country to support the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Agency (NPHA). The mission focused on improving the performance of Environmental Surveillance (ES) sites in Freetown, considering expansions to other towns, and building the capacity of local sample collectors and supervisors.