Afrigather 
PRESS RELEASE
Freetown, Sierra Leone, 6 November 2023 – To strengthen the well being safety and emergency capability to implement the Emergency Preparedness and Response initiatives in Sierra Leone, the World Well being Group, in partnership with Africa Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) has kicked off a one week-long scooping mission within the nation. The mission will work collectively with the Authorities of Sierra Leone to determine precedence areas and interact with its companions in articulating a shared imaginative and prescient for strengthening well being safety and emergencies.
This initiative follows a suggestion by African Well being Ministers to undertake a brand new technique to rework well being safety within the area through the seventy-second session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa in Lome in August 2022 and kinds a part of the WHO regional Technique for Well being Safety and Emergencies 2022-2030, which goals to strengthen member states capacities to successfully put together, detect and reply to public well being emergencies by three flagship packages together with Selling the resilience of techniques for emergencies (PROSE), Reworking African Surveillance Programs (TASS), and Strengthening and Using Response Teams for Emergencies (SURGE).
“The Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Flagship Scoping Mission 2023 exemplifies WHO’s world dedication to equitable well being preparedness and response. Along with Sierra Leone, we’re devoted to fortifying healthcare techniques and disaster readiness, making certain the well-being of the nation’s folks,” stated Dr Harmless Nuwagira, WHO Nation Consultant in Sierra Leone.
“On this collaborative endeavor with Africa CDC, WHO is specializing in solidarity and preparedness, striving for a more healthy and extra resilient Sierra Leone and contributing to enhanced world well being safety. Our shared mission is to guard and enhance the lives of all these we serve,” provides Dr Nuwagira.
This mission reinforces a press release of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-Common, “We should cease the cycle of panic and neglect with regards to pandemic preparedness; we don’t need COVID-19 to repeat, we don’t need vaccine nationalism to repeat, and we don’t need folks dying from lack of oxygen to repeat.”
Ministry of Well being
The Deputy Minister of Well being in Sierra Leone, Dr. Charles Senessie; “there’s a lot we are able to be taught from previous pandemics just like the Ebola virus and COVID-19. These world well being crises usually strike when least anticipated, which is why we welcome this initiative as a nation. We’re desirous to work with the group, alternate data, draw from our collective experiences, and improve our preparedness for future pandemics.”
The African Area faces a excessive burden of public well being emergencies with growing complexities, and though progress was made up to now, the COVID-19 epidemic has once more uncovered gaps in well being emergency preparedness and response and well being techniques usually. This requires pressing additional strengthening of emergency prevention, preparedness, response, and resilience capacities on the nation degree, together with in Sierra Leone.
Through the mission, consultative conferences on Strengthening and Using Response Teams for well being safety and emergencies shall be held with totally different stakeholders, and the findings will inform the event of strategic plans and initiatives that may assist Sierra Leone higher put together for and reply to public well being emergencies. Via this mission, well being authorities will Establish areas for the strengthening of the healthcare system, consider and enhance well being infrastructure, improve capability for emergency preparedness and response, and develop methods that make sure the continuity of important well being companies throughout emergencies.
Already, Sierra Leone has undertaken a number of initiatives together with the piloting of the Common Well being Preparedness and Response, the Joint Exterior Analysis, and the identification of a various group of personnel that may be quickly deployed in circumstances of emergencies each within the nation and different international locations within the area and elsewhere. Within the coming weeks and months, by this partnership, the recognized individuals shall be prioritized educated, and outfitted with the related expertise for deployment inside 72 hours of want.
The scoping mission represents an important step in safeguarding the well being and well-being of the inhabitants in Sierra Leone and strengthening the nation’s resilience to rising well being threats. As soon as accomplished, the mission will develop a set of suggestions that may inform a two-year roadmap for actions tailor-made to particular must strengthen epidemic preparedness and emergency response in Sierra Loen and can contribute to the nation’s nationwide Motion Plan for Well being Safety.
For extra info and updates, please contact:
WHO
Madlyn Sharkah, WHO Nationwide Communication Officer
Electronic mail: sharkahm [at] who.inttype=”colour:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline”
Tel: +23273623665
Concerning the Ministry of Well being: The Ministry of Well being in Sierra Leone is devoted to bettering the well being and well-being of all Sierra Leoneans. For extra info, please go to https://mohs.gov.sl/.
About WHO: The World Well being Group is the United Nation’s directing and coordinating authority on worldwide well being work, establishing, and sustaining efficient collaboration with the United Nations, specialised businesses, authorities well being ministries and administrations, skilled teams, and such organizations as deemed acceptable to help the governments, upon request, in strengthening well being companies. For extra info, please go to https://www.who.int/countries/sle.
