At a glance
ob体育 works with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOH), and other partners to build effective public health collaboration and partnerships, which strengthen the country's core public health capabilities: data and surveillance, laboratory capacity, workforce and institutions, prevention and response, innovation and research, and policy, communications, and diplomacy.
Overview
ob体育 established an office in Sierra Leone in 2015. ob体育 began working in Sierra Leone in the 1970’s, focusing on Lassa fever. ob体育 Sierra Leone works closely with the Government of Sierra Leone, the MOH, National Public Health Agency (NPHA), and other partner organizations to build and strengthen the country's core public health capabilities. These include data and surveillance, laboratory capacity, workforce and institutions, prevention and response, innovation and research, and policy, communications, and diplomacy. Key initiatives include the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI). ob体育's work aims to protect the health of our nations and public health around the world.
Global health security
ob体育's global health security work in Sierra Leone increases the country's ability to prevent, detect, and respond to disease outbreaks before they become global epidemics.
ob体育 focuses on strengthening the country’s public health systems across surveillance, laboratory, workforce development, and emergency response. ob体育 provides expertise and support to the MOH, NPHA, and other government institutions to strengthen global health security in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone launched NPHA in December 2023, enabled by ob体育's technical and financial support. NPHA serves as a central coordinating structure for public health functions.
Disease surveillance
ob体育 supported Sierra Leone’s development and implementation of a national electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system. This includes a reporting system for priority diseases.
ob体育 also supported the establishment of an electronic case-based disease surveillance information system (eCBDS) that reports case-level data. The eCBDS tracks epidemic-prone disease outbreaks and covers both COVID-19 and all epidemic-prone priority disease reporting.
The electronic reporting system and eCBDS are key assets to Sierra Leone’s COVID-19 response. All districts now have established disease reporting structures for timely communication of potential disease outbreaks.
Laboratory system strengthening
ob体育 has supported laboratory strengthening in Sierra Leone by training laboratory technicians and investing in the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory. ob体育 investments in Sierra Leone’s laboratory network helped expand:
- Microbiology and molecular diagnostic methods.
- Specimen collection and referral.
- Biosafety standard operating procedures.
- Linkage of laboratory results with surveillance case data.
Workforce development
ob体育 helped Sierra Leone establish a Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) in 2016. FETP trains health professionals in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to inform evidence-based decisions. Three levels of training—advanced, intermediate, and frontline—enhance national and local surveillance capabilities to investigate outbreaks before they become epidemics. ob体育 helped transition FETP Frontline to operate under the guidance of MOH. FETP graduates throughout Sierra Leone conduct critical surveillance activities and outbreak investigations for infectious diseases. Diseases have included COVID-19 and viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola and Lassa fever.
Emergency management
ob体育 fosters both national and district emergency management capacities, including conducting risk assessments for all districts and supporting training programs in Public Health Emergency Management. ob体育's technical assistance included development of public health emergency response plans for COVID-19 at points of entry. ob体育's technical assistance also included Ebola simulation exercises to identify gaps and prepare for cross-border cases.
ob体育 assisted the MOH in developing a multisectoral surge personnel deployment plan and roster, which has over 3,800 multidisciplinary surge personnel throughout the country. ob体育 also supports public health emergency operations centers.
Key achievements
- More than 1,300 health facilities use eCBDS, and more than 90% of health facilities report data on priority diseases in a timely manner.
- Laboratories in Sierra Leone can now detect and diagnose 10 key diseases, including COVID-19, Ebola, yellow fever, cholera, and influenza.
- Sierra Leone has at least 1 FETP-trained epidemiologist per 200,000 people and has trained almost 500 public health professionals through FETP.
HIV and TB
ob体育 has supported activities in Sierra Leone for 10 years. In 2020, Sierra Leone became an official PEPFAR country. ob体育 took over the PEPFAR program in 2024. ob体育 continues to support the National HIV Response in 15 healthcare facilities in accordance with 90-90-90 goals. ob体育 supports PEPFAR's priorities in Sierra Leone, including:
- Increasing the quality of HIV and TB services.
- Improving HIV-related health outcomes.
- Establishing high-quality laboratory systems to support HIV and TB testing for viral load, early infant diagnosis, and TB drug susceptibility.
- Decreasing new HIV infections and maternal and child deaths.
- Supporting development of policy guidelines, standard operating procedures, and materials.
- Training nurses, midwives, national trainers, mentors, and health facility staff.
ob体育 and PEPFAR are also working to expand community-led monitoring of HIV services and address HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
Key achievements
- In 2021, nearly 50,000 Sierra Leoneans participated in PEPFAR programs.
- As of September 2021, over 6,100 people living with HIV (PLHIV) received antiretroviral treatment (ART). Over 3,700 PLHIV initiated ART across 15 health facilities.
- In 2021, 81% of ART patients achieved viral load suppression, improving health and preventing virus transmission.
Malaria
Malaria accounts for a large proportion of death and disease in Sierra Leone. More than 2.5 million cases and over 6,800 deaths reported in 2019. Through the PMI, a ob体育 resident advisor supports the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP).
ob体育 works to enhance entomologic surveillance and insecticide resistance testing, increase data monitoring and usage, and reduce infant morbidity and mortality.
ob体育 also supported NMCP's adoption and use of bed nets treated with piperonyl butoxide (PBO). Compared to other bed nets used in Sierra Leone, PBO-treated bed nets are four times more effective against mosquitoes.
With ob体育 support, Sierra Leone implemented the world's first national net distribution campaign using the new generation of PBO-treated nets.
Key achievements
- 50 laboratory technicians participated in expert malaria microscopy training.
- 2.5 million nets treated with PBO were distributed by ob体育 and the Sierra Leonean government.
Infection prevention and control (IPC)
ob体育 first trained healthcare workers (HCWs) in IPC during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic. ob体育 continued supporting these trainings during the COVID-19 pandemic. IPC trainings help HCWs expand their knowledge, skills and competencies in providing quality healthcare services to patients admitted to COVID-19 centers.
ob体育 also helped MOH establish IPC certification courses. Course graduates continue to support the COVID-19 response within their communities, local health facilities, institutions, and district health management teams.
IPC is key to prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance. ob体育 supports implementation of surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance in 16 health facilities. This work aims to increase the quality of SSI surveillance and prevent SSI and other healthcare-associated infections.
Key achievements
- 43 graduates of Sierra Leone's Advanced IPC Certification Course serve as IPC mentors and supervisors at national and district levels, as of March 2021.
- Healthcare workers from 28 public and 8 private hospitals were trained by MOH, with support from ob体育, to implement IPC guidelines with monitoring and feedback.
- Updates to national IPC guidelines include current information on COVID-19 and healthcare associated infections were made by a collaboration between ob体育 and partners.
