Problem Reported levels of mental health and psychosocial problems rose during the 2014-2015 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Sierra Leone. Approach As part of the emergency response, existing plans to create mental health units within the existing hospital framework were brought forward. A nurse-led mental health and psychosocial support service, with an inpatient liaison service and an outpa...

As of October 31, 2014, the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation had reported 3,854 laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (Ebola) since the outbreak began in May 2014; 199 (5.2%) of these cases were among health care workers. Ebola infection prevention and control (IPC) measures are essential to interrupt Ebola virus transmission and protect the health workforce, a populat...

After the publication of this work [1], we became aware that AFDIL data set used to construct our database of subSaharan mtDNA sequences had been mislabelled, and in fact, did not contain Sierra Leone mtDNA sequences. We have obtained the correct Sierra Leone data set from AFDIL, reconstructed the database using the new file, and reanalyzed all of the data. The size of our database was reduced ...

BACKGROUND In Sierra Leone, children ages 6-59 months receive twice-yearly vitamin A supplementation (VAS) through Maternal and Child Health Week (MCHW) events. VAS coverage in 2011 was calculated using government tally sheets of vitamin A capsule distribution and outdated population projections from the 2004 census. We conducted a national post-event coverage (PEC) survey to validate coverage ...

UNLABELLED In Sierra Leone, West Africa, there are many people with disabilities in need of rehabilitation services after a long civil war. PURPOSE The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of prosthetic and orthotic service delivery in Sierra Leone from the local staff's perspective. METHOD Fifteen prosthetic and orthotic technicians working at all the rehabilitation...

The 2014-2015 Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in West Africa was the largest in history. The three most affected countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, have faced enormous challenges in controlling transmission and providing clinical care for patients with EVD. The Chinese government, in response to the requests of the WHO and the governments of the affected countries, responded rapidl...

Introduction and Purpose: It is now apparent that the changing weather patterns are associated with climate change according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In the wake of relatively little work looking at rainfall pattern in tropical countries of developing nations, especially in Sierra Leone, we conducted a retrospective analysis on the amount of rainfall over the past fe...

Since the start of the Ebola virus disease (Ebola) outbreak in West Africa, Sierra Leone has reported 8,706 confirmed Ebola cases and 3,956 deaths. During September 15-16, 2015, heavy rains flooded the capital, Freetown, resulting in eight deaths, home and property destruction, and thousands of persons in need of assistance. By September 27, approximately 13,000 flood-affected persons registere...

This article documents reflections of a paediatrician working with the medical non-governmental organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières, in two Ebola Management Centres in Sierra Leone, in December 2014 and January 2015.

Background A need to strengthen the supply chain and capacity of local supply chain professionals in Sierra Leone was identified following a supply chain assessment in 2010. In 2012, Crown Agents was contracted to undertake a project to set up and manage the National Pharmaceutical Procurement Unit project and build local capacity over a 3 year period. The project team consists of international...