Ebola vaccine trialed in West Africa shows 100 percent protection – study

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] An Ebola vaccine candidate trialed in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has been found to provide 100 percent protection, raising hopes for a potential prevention of the deadly hemorrhagic fever disease, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced Friday.

The experimental vaccine called rVSV ZEBOV was found to be effective against the virus at the end of a trial in Guinea, details of the study published on the medical journal, the Lancet, earlier in the week show.

The breakthrough comes nearly a year after the end of the world’s deadliest Ebola outbreak that wreaked havoc in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. Over 11,300 people died, out of more than 28,000 cases globally, according to figures from WHO.

Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, where it all started, bore the brunt of the cases and fatalities.

Three in 10 Sierra Leoneans infected with Malaria – report

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] Despite progress in reduction of transmission and deaths due to Malaria, Sierra Leone remains one of the worst affected by the disease, the latest report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed.

WHO’s World Malaria Report 2016 released on Tuesday reveals that nearly 3 in 10 Sierra Leoneans were infected by the parasitic disease, making the country one of the world’s highest burdens of malaria cases.

The annual report, published every December, details a comprehensive overview of progress in the fight against malaria.

This year’s edition reveals that despite progress globally in terms of cutting down transmission and deaths, the disease remains a serious public health threat, and it calls for increase in funding to tackle its spread.

Research bedrock of development – Professor Osman Sankoh

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] A renowned Sierra Leonean scientist has called for greater involvement of academic institutions in the country in research, citing its inalienable role in facilitating development.

Professor Osman Sankoh, the Executive Director of the Ghana headquartered INDEPTH Network, urged fellow academics to embrace research saying it’s the bed rock of development and could be a source of financing for the country’s cash trapped universities.

Sankoh also said research guarantees field experience for academic staff, something that’s lacking in the country.

WHO experts call for increase in immunization in Africa

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] Vaccine preventable diseases are killing an unacceptably high number of people despite recent gains in immunization, a group of experts has warned.

The African Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group (RITAG), which comprises immunization experts, said tangible actions were required to stem the tide of vaccine preventable diseases in the WHO African Region. They made the call in a statement at the end of a 2-day meeting last week in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. That forum discussed the state of immunization in the region.

RITAG is an outfit of the WHO regional office and serves as the principal advisory group to the Regional Director on regional immunization policies and programmes. The group said while Africa has realized tremendous gains in access to immunization in the last 15 years, progress has stagnated, with statistics showing that one in five African children were without access to life-saving vaccines.

New campaign aims to boost hospital visits in Sierra Leone

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] An initiative designed to shore up hospital visits has been launched in Sierra Leone as part of the government’s effort to beat down the world’s highest maternal mortality ratio.

The campaign, dubbed ‘Get Kol Art, pik welbodi’, from the local Krio loosely translated ‘choose a healthy living and be assured of a peaceful mind,’ is targeting the most vulnerable segment in society - pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and children under five. This is the same group of people who are catered for in the government’s partial free healthcare initiative which, apparently, has done little to turn around one of the world’s worst health systems.

Sierra Leone among top ten countries with highest TB burden

Dr Cornelia Margarete HENNIG

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] The World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked Sierra Leone among countries with highest prevalence of TB cases in the world.

In a new report published last week, Sierra Leone, alongside its next door neighbor Liberia, was placed among the top ten countries with the highest number of TB cases per capita, with an official calling for redoubling of efforts by the government and its partners to tackle the epidemic.

Sierra Leone recorded an estimated 20, 000 new TB cases and 3, 300 TB related deaths in 2015, according to the 2016 ‘Global Tuberculosis Report’ which also stresses the urgency needed for countries to move rapidly in their prevention, detection and treatment efforts if the world is to meet the global target of ending the epidemic.

Nutrition for HIV patients gets major boost

 

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] A WFP project that provides crucial nutrition for AIDS and Tuberculosis patients in Sierra Leone has received a major boost which will enable it expand the number of beneficiaries.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has provided US$3.1 million to the programme which will see the UN food agency scales up its nutritional support for over 20,000 Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and tuberculosis (TB) patients, according to a statement received by Politico.

Last year, the programme supported about 5, 900 ART patients, the statement from WFP said.

People living with HIV are known to have weakened immune systems. And experts say adequate nutrition is essential for effective treatment for any illness, particularly so for these kinds of patients.