Sierra Leone News

FREETOWN, November 16 2017 --- At a handover ceremony today, the World Health Organization in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) donated 75 vehicles to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation. The vehicles, which include 18 cars and 57 motorbikes, will be used to support disease surveillance and response to outbreaks and other public health emergencies.

FREETOWN, 6 November 2017 --- Today a new national five-year strategy and a policy for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) was launched in Sierra Leone, which aims to help reduce maternal and child deaths in the country.

Freetown, 2 November 2017 - The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2017 published this week shows that Sierra Leone is one of 30 countries with the highest burden of the disease in the world. The country reported 14,114 TB cases in 2016 but many more cases likely go unreported.

Today Sierra Leone starts a four day nationwide house-house supplementary immunization campaign to vaccinate an estimated 1.5 million children under five years old against polio. Additional interventions integrated into this campaign include vitamin A supplementation for children 6-59 months; deworming for children 12-59 months and the identification and correction of children under 2 years that have missed their routine immunization schedules for other vaccines.

FREETOWN, 23 October 2017 --- In Sierra Leone, giving birth is one of the most dangerous times in a woman’s life. According to the most recent UN estimates, the country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, at 1,360 deaths per 100,000 live births (UN, 2015). In simpler terms, this means that for every 100 babies born in the country, approximately one woman will lose her life. The nation also has high rates of neonatal deaths, and over 7,500 stillbirths are estimated to occur each year (WHO, 2013). 

FREETOWN, September 21 2017 --- On the morning of 14th August 2017, people in Sierra Leone awoke to tragic news. Following torrential rains, landslides had devastated communities in and around the country’s capital, Freetown. The landslide started in the Regent area, high on the slopes in the eastern part of the city, but flash floods, mudslides and boulders then cascaded down the mountainside, eviscerating everything in their way.

FREETOWN, 15 September 2017 – Sierra Leone’s first ever Oral Cholera Vaccination (OCV) campaign kicked off today, September 15th 2017. The emergency campaign targets communities affected by Western Area’s severe floods and landslides, which left over 6,000 people displaced and caused over 500 confirmed deaths.

FREETOWN, September 13th 2017 - Sia Twiyor* survived the 14 August mudslides but lost 16 members of her family in the disaster including her husband, brothers and sisters. Some of them had come to spend the school holidays with her. Sia is now struggling to cope and has suffered countless sleepless nights since the incident occurred.

FREETOWN, 5 September 2017 – Half a million people in Sierra Leone will be able to access the life-saving cholera vaccine within weeks, the country’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation announced on Tuesday.