Health and Nutrition

From pregnancy and birth through childhood and adolescence, too many children and mothers in Sierra Leone still face risks that can be prevented with timely, quality care. While more children are being reached with immunisation and essential health services, child and maternal mortality remain high, with maternal mortality at 353 deaths per 100,000 live births. Newborns continue to be especially vulnerable to preventable complications and infections. Sustaining these gains requires continued investment in essential supplies, service delivery systems and targeted technical support.

For many families, preventable illness and poor nutrition remain everyday threats. Malnutrition, malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea and other preventable illnesses continue to affect children’s survival and development, while food insecurity, poor dietary diversity and anaemia threaten children’s growth, learning and long-term wellbeing. Adolescents, especially girls, also face additional health and nutrition risks and need services that respond to their needs.

• More children are being reached with vaccines, with Penta3 coverage at 98 per cent, although some children remain unreached and routine immunisation must be sustained.
• Too many children still die from preventable causes: around 90 children out of every 1,000 live births die before their fifth birthday, and 28 newborns die within the first month of life.
• Food insecurity affects more than 70 per cent of the population, child food poverty is estimated at nearly 50 per cent, and more than 1 in 4 children under five are stunted.