Sierra Leone Media Centre

Sierra Leone has more than 2000 known Ebola survivors, who have been celebrated as heroes all over the country. But once back in the community, they face the harsh reality of stigmatization. As a young boy and orphan, Sherrie used to live with his uncle, until he was discharged from the Ebola treatment centre and he found that he wasn’t welcome back in his own home. Inspired by strength and courage, Sherrie and a few other survivors have created “the Rescue Team”, an association of Ebola survivors. The association already has more than 90 survivors from Port Loko district alone, the majority of whom are young adults.

Hand hygiene action to support containment of the Ebola outbreak has been crucial for all health workers. In Sierra Leone, WHO has supported training on the recommended hand cleansing steps to be performed as well as the products that can be used, monitoring progress with improvement over these months.