31 December 2024

COVID-19 vaccines protecting lives in slum communities in Sierra Leone

Freetown, Sierra Leone, - The COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees, and Sierra Leone was no exception. In 2021, the country reported over 7,000 confirmed cases and 125 deaths; a small number by global standards but devastating for a nation with a fragile healthcare system. In the crowded slums of Kroo ...
17 April 2024

Integrating COVID-19 Vaccines into routine immunisation services

Kenema, — It is mid-morning in Kenema City, eastern Sierra Leone. The distant sounds of nature blend with the soft hum of motorbikes zipping through the streets, creating a calm but busy backdrop of locals going about their daily routines. With a determined stride, Yawah Sellu, a food vendor, leaves her food stal...
21 September 2023

Surge campaigns increase the rates of COVID-19 vaccinations in Sierra Leone

Masama, – Mohamed Kamara, a Community Health Worker (CHW) in Masama village, Karena District, northern Sierra Leone, was sweating profusely after trekking for six miles to a neigbouring village to educate and raise awareness on the need for vaccination against COVID-19. That was just one of his routine trips to p...
31 August 2023

Community-Led Action boosts COVID-19 vaccination coverage in five districts in Sierra Leone

Makeni, – Osman Koroma and Agnes Kamara are two social mobilizers who are actively involved in a COVID-19 community vaccination initiative in their communities through the Community-Led Action (CLA) approach. They are on a mission to sensitize and raise awareness with local communities on the critical importance...
03 August 2023

Mobile Vaccination Teams continue to sensitise and vaccinate people in Bo District against COVID-19

Bo , – With mixed feelings of fear and and excitement, Theresa Lusainie, a nurse and vaccinator in Bo, southern Sierra Leone and her team of three, walked over a makeshift bridge made up of coconut tree trunks to access Patema village which lies across a stream. The mobile vaccination team, which comprises of a nu...
25 May 2023

Solar Powered Refrigerators Boost COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage

Freetown, – Isha Kanawah, a vaccination nurse at the Rokel Community Health Centre in rural Freetown has just returned from a COVID-19 Community Outreach Exercise to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19. It is a very hot and humid day in Sierra Leone. As she was unpacking the unused COVID-19 vaccines from ...
13 April 2023

Community mobilisation expands COVID-19 vaccination in Sierra Leone

Lumbebu , - When the COVID-19 vaccines were first introduced in Sierra Leone, there was a lot of skepticism and hesitancy among the population. Many people were unsure about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, and there were also rumors and misinformation circulating about the vaccine. Others were worried abou...
12 December 2022

Support towards effective COVID-19 Vaccine roll out

Since September 2022, Saffinatu Juannah’s workstation has been a modest shed, a few metres from the main gate of the office of the Western Area Urban District Health Management Team, Cline Town in Freetown. For a young nurse who qualified just two years ago, Saffinatu never imagined that being a nurse would mean s...
08 December 2022

Community Led Action helps to improve COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Sierra Leone

Karene, - At Mamanso village in Karene, North of Sierra Leone, Modu B. Bangura is ready to welcome Mohamed Bah, a Social Mobiliser, as he does his routine visit to Mamanso village, where sensitisation on COVID-19 vaccination is ongoing. A year ago, when Mohamed started making these regular visits to encourage pe...
08 September 2022

With 98 per cent vaccination coverage, 3 communities lead the way in building resilience to COVID-19

Kagboray, Sierra Leone, – It is a sunny and busy morning in Kagboray village, north of Sierra Leone. As children head off to school, a group of men and women are gathering under the tall and lush mango trees of the country yard in what appears to be a vivid debate. For the past months, members of the Kagboray, Kad...
29 June 2022

Talking points delivered by Ms. Yuki Suehiro, Chief of Health, Nutrition and HIV, UNICEF on the handing over of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

On behalf of the United Nations Children’s Fund, (UNICEF), I bring you greetings from the UNICEF Representative, Dr. Suleiman Braimoh, who is unavoidably absent here today. It is a privilege and a pleasure to officially handover this consignment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which was procured with fundi...
29 June 2022

Government of Germany and UNICEF hand over Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to reinforce infection prevention and control (IPC) for health service delivery in Sierra Leone as part of COVID-19 response

Freetown -, The Government of Germany, in co-operation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has officially handed over Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to reinforce infection prevention and control (IPC) for health service delivery in the context of the COVID...