Health in Sierra Leone

It is estimated that there are about 450,000 disabled people in Sierra Leone,[4] though number could be under-estimated.[4] Common disabilities in Sierra Leone include blindness, deafness, war wounded, amputees and post-polio syndrome.[4]

In 2019, having lacked an organised rapid emergency medical response, the First Responder Coalition of Sierra Leone (FRCSL) was established by five national and international organizations in June to develop emergency first responder programs across Sierra Leone.[5] The founding members of the Coalition were the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, LFR International, the University of Makeni, Holy Spirit Hospital, and Agency for Rural Community Transformation. The establishment of the FRCSL was timely as the 72nd World Health Assembly had declared emergency care systems essential to universal health coverage in May.[6] The Coalition began work in Makeni, training 1,000 community members to be first responders over a two-month period and equipping each with first aid skills and materials.[7]

Yellow fever and malaria are endemic to Sierra Leone.[8]

Sierra Leone's entire estimated population of 6.5 million is vulnerable to malaria.[9] Over two million outpatient visits are reported due to malaria annually, of which half are children under five years of age.[9] The 2016 Malaria Indicator Survey demonstrated parasitemia ranges from 6 percent in Western Urban to 58 percent in Koinadugu district, among children 6-59 months of age.[9] Malaria transmission has two peaks, during the rainy season in May and in October/November. Plasmodium falciparum causes the majority of infections.[9]

Of the 20 countries with the highest incidence of maternal mortality, 19 of them are located in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the highest rates in the world occurring in Sierra Leone. One in seventeen women risks dying during pregnancy or childbirth.[10]

The 2015 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Sierra Leone is 1,360. This is compared with 970 in 2010 and 1032 in 2008. The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000 births is 198 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality is 25. In Sierra Leone the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 1 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women 1 in 21.[11]

Since the Ebola outbreak of 2014/2015, healthcare facilities have been associated with pain and death. Africans are choosing to reject the safety of hospitals out for any sort of care, especially for childbirth. It is estimated that maternal mortality rates will increase by 74 percent in the coming years.[12] This statistic has been called the "next wave of deaths from Ebola " due to the potential increase in maternal deaths because of the avoidance of hospitals.

Mental health care in Sierra Leone is almost non-existent. Many sufferers try to cure themselves with the help of traditional healers.[13] During the Civil War (1991–2002), many soldiers took part in atrocities and many children[14] were forced to fight. This left them traumatised, with an estimated 400,000 people (by 2009) being mentally ill.[15] Thousands of former child soldiers have fallen into substance abuse as they try to blunt their memories.[16] There is one primitive psychiatric facility in Sierra Leone.[17]

A situation map of the Ebola outbreak as of 8 August 2014.

Sierra Leone suffers from epidemic outbreaks of diseases including cholera, Lassa fever, and meningitis.[8]

Sierra Leone has a prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the population of 1.6 percent.[18]

In 2014 there was an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. As of August 4, 2014, there had been 691 cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone and 286 deaths.[19]

Discrimination based on HIV status is illegal, but HIV-positive people are highly stigmatized, with HIV-positive children being denied schooling, adults denied jobs, and abandonment by families common. Persons with HIV are often driven to suicide.[17]