HEADA SL

23/06/2025

Today, the government of Sierra Leone, through the National Public Health Agency, with technical and financial support from HEADA held a one-day orientation and planning meeting with District Medical Officers (DMOs) and Medical Suprintendents (MSs ) on Mpox enhanced response strategy. The meeting aimed to introduce and guide these key district health systems leaders on the implementation of an integrated community surveillance approach ( active case search) to enhance mpox case detection, reporting and management. After series of PowerPoints presentations on the strategy, the DMOs and MSs were able to align their various response plans with the national strategy to ensure a well coordinated response across the country. The strategy focuses door-to-door active case search for suspected mpox cases, immediate vaccination ot contacts and high-risk groups, improve sample transportation, and improve case management at all levels. By working together with other technical
Partners and implementing these measures, we aim to significantly reduce the burden of mpox in the country and protect public health.

The meeting was attended by both national and international technical experts and partners.

This activity was made possible with funding from Epic project through PSI Sierra Leone.

01/01/2025

14/12/2024

Today, HEADA Sierra Leone and PSI Sierra Leone through the EpiC GHS Project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) concluded a five-day workshop to Develop a national strategy for wildlife disease surveillance that started from the 9th to the 13th of December. The workshop supported the Zoonotic Disease Technical working group sessions to review and adapt existing wildlife surveillance SOPs, guidelines, and reporting tools to guide the development of a wildlife surveillance strategy in Sierra Leone. This workshop brought together key stakeholders from various sectors, including health professionals , agriculture, environment, and wildlife officials. The ultimate goal is to improve public health outcomes and prevent future pandemics through effective surveillance and control measures. There were various breakout and plenary sessions where participants were divided into groups based on expertise to develop different sections of the wildlife surveillance strategy with active involvement of the environment. Through this effort, Sierra Leone aims to build a comprehensive and sustainable system for monitoring and addressing zoonotic diseases threats in the future. The various sections developed shall be compiled into a single document to form draft zero of the wildlife surveillance strategy, which will then undergo further review and refinement by experts in the field. Once finalised, this strategy will provide guidance on surveillance functions and building capacity in detecting and responding to potential zoonotic disease outbreaks.
U.S. Embassy Freetown, Sierra LeoneNational Public Health AgencyUNICEFWorld Health Organization (WHO)Ministry of Agriculture and Food SecurityCDCWildlife Conservation NetworkFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)World Wildlife FundPsi Sierra Leone

30/11/2024

HEADA Sierra Leone, with funds from the US CDC Global Health Security Agenda(GHSA) Health Systems Strengthening initiative to the Ministry of Health (MoH) and National Public Health Agency (NPHA), has completed a five (5) days’ hospital surveillance officers refresher training on the 3rd edition eIDSR technical guidelines, eCBDS, and EBS platforms to improve the surveillance functions in 24 major hospitals across Sierra Leone. The training started on the 26th of November, and ran though to the 30th of November 2024.

The aim of this training is to build capacity of clinical surveillance officers, esuring that all hospitals can use the eIDSR, eCBDS, and EBS platforms in the DHIS2 efficiently to promptly detect, report and analyze priority diseases from the 24 major hospitals in Sierra Leone.
U.S. Embassy Freetown, Sierra LeoneNational Public Health AgencyUNICEFWorld Health Organization (WHO)CDC

22/11/2024

HEADA Sierra Leone, under the Epic Project with funds from the USAID-Global Health Security (GHS) through FHI 360 and Population Service International (PSI) in partnership with the National One Health Secretariat, held its inaugural Zoonotic Disease Surveillance Technical Working Group (ZTWG) meeting.
The aim of this meeting was to bring together nominated relevant technical experts for the first TWG meeting to review their terms of reference and map out next steps. The ZTWG’s firwt function will be to review existing guidelines and SOPs on wildlife zoonotic Disease and Environmental Surveillance Systems.
The ZTWG will be working with the EpiC project team to develop a routine wildlife Zoonotic Disease Surveillance strategy with active involvement of the environmental sector.
U.S. Embassy Freetown, Sierra LeoneNational Public Health AgencyUNICEFCDCWorld Health Organization (WHO)Wildlife Conservation NetworkFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)Ministry of Agriculture and Food SecurityWorld Wildlife FundDanielOgubi OgubiPsi Sierra Leone

13/11/2024

HEADA Country Director James Bangura presenting the Scope of Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) Global Health Security (GHS) Project. A global health initiative project funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Ministry of Agriculture and Food SecurityU.S. Embassy Freetown, Sierra LeoneNational Public Health AgencyUNICEFCDCWorld Health Organization (WHO)Wildlife Conservation NetworkWorld Wildlife FundFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

13/11/2024

HEADA Sierra Leone and PSI Sierra Leone today launched the Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) Global Health Security (GHS) Project. A global health initiative project funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The project aims to strengthen local public health systems to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases especially in wildlife and ecological health. The project will focus to improve three main technical areas, namely, antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic disease surveillance, and laboratory system strengthening for wildlife samples testing in Sierra Leone.
Epic team engaged stakeholders to build alignment and commitment for the project goal and objective. The Country Director of HEADA, during his presentation, explained the epic project scope of work and emphasised the importance of collaboration with government agencies in the form of the One Health approach, which integrates human, animal, and environmental health to address complex health challenges. This holistic approach will ensure a comprehensive and sustainable impact on the health system in Sierra Leone to ensure the project's success. He also highlighted the potential impact of the project on public health outcomes in Sierra Leone.

National Public Health AgencyU.S. Embassy Freetown, Sierra LeoneUNICEFCDCWorld Health Organization (WHO) Psi Sierra Leone World Wildlife FundConservation Networke Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security

12/11/2024

Welcome to the HEADA Sierra Leone official page! We are dedicated to protecting lives and strengthening global health security by building capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks.