Sierra Leone News

When 9-year-old Romulus Jr. fell ill, his father, Romulus Thomas Blackie, thought it was just the flare-up of sickle cell disease which the child had complained of. He never imagined it would be Mpox - a disease that has infected more than 5 200 people and claimed 55 lives in Sierra Leone since January 2025. Cases have been confirmed in all 16 districts of the country with the capital city, Freetown and its suburbs, accounting for nearly 75% of all the reported cases.

A WHO-supported house-to-house Mpox nationwide campaign in Sierra Leone, valued at a cost of USD 300,000, has significantly reduced the number of Mpox cases countrywide by 50% in one month.

Freetown, Sierra Leone, August 19, 2025 – Sierra Leone has taken an important step in strengthening its public health system by hosting a two-week national workshop on DNA sequencing and bioinformatics from August 4 to August 15, 2025 in Freetown. The training, held under the theme “From Genome to Action: Enhancing Mpox Surveillance through Sequencing and Bioinformatics in Sierra Leone,” was supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Makeni, Sierra Leone – July 2025

Pujehun District, Sierra Leone – August 2025

Helinda Saffiatu Sandi is no stranger to the challenges of public health service delivery. At 37 years old, the trained nurse from Pujehun Government Hospital has dedicated the past five years to caring for her community, first at a Peripheral Health Unit (PHU), and now as a member of the District Health Management Team (DHMT). Her story is one of perseverance, community trust-building, and deep commitment to disease prevention.

Bo district, 31 July: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to pose a serious public health threat globally, undermining the effective treatment of infections in humans and animals. In response, the Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and funding from the Fleming Fund, conducted a four-day national training workshop from 28–31 July 2025 in Bo district to strengthen AMR surveillance systems in Sierra Leone.

As part of efforts to strengthen collaboration and close response gaps in the ongoing Mpox outbreak, the National Public Health Agency (NPHA), with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), convened a strategic engagement with private healthcare practitioners in Freetown. The meeting, held at Brookfields Hotel, focused on enhancing the integration of private sector actors into national Mpox response strategies, including surveillance, laboratory systems, vaccination, infection prevention and control (IPC), and case management.

Dare Es Salam, Gbinleh Chiefdom, Kambia District – July 2025

In the rural village of Dare Es Salam in Gbinleh Chiefdom, Kambia District, 54-year-old Maligie Fofanah walks from house to house, quietly supporting his community’s health. As a Community Health Worker (CHW) Peer Supervisor, Maligie is part of the broader national and district response efforts to Mpox, working alongside teams deployed with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.

Freetown, 24 July 2025 – Sierra Leone has concluded a two-day virtual training aimed at strengthening the capacity of its national polio committees, as part of a wider regional effort spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. The training, which ended today, targeted members of the National Certification Committee (NCC), National Polio Expert Committee (NPEC), National Task Force (NTF), and their secretariat.

“When communities are informed and empowered, they become the first and strongest line of defence in public health emergencies.” – Dr. George Ameh, WHO Country Representative in Sierra Leone.