MSF props Sierra Leone

Forty-seven nurses and midwives have returned home to Sierra Leone to take up jobs in hospitals and health centres after successfully completing a two-year diploma in Ghana.

Their return, with more skills, will boost Sierra Leone’s efforts to recover from the devastating blow to its health service caused by the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic and Lassa fever outbreaks.

The 47 were awarded their diplomas on 18 December in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, by Ghana’s Nursing and Midwifery Council (N&MC) after four semesters of rigorous practical and theoretical work at the nursing and midwifery training colleges in Korle-Bu and Koforidua.

The training was affiliated with the University of Cape Coast and sponsored by international medical organization, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has worked in Sierra Leone since 1986.

MSF’s aim in sponsoring this training was “to enable Sierra Leone’s health service to withstand the devastating shock and utter destruction it suffered from major outbreaks of Lassa fever and Ebola,” says MSF’s Bart Janssens. “The training will ensure an increase in the patient-to-medic ratio and enhance timely, effective and quality health services.”

The nurses and midwives will work in various health facilities across Sierra Leone, including MSF’s Hangha hospital in Kenema district which provides emergency healthcare for children under five.

The two-year training programme erves as a pilot to develop the tools and expertise needed to meet training needs in Sierra Leone and in other countries worldwide.

“Developing global human resources for health should remain a priority for MSF and partners against the backdrop of re-emerging diseases and new strains with resistance to conventional treatment,” says Samuel Theodore, MSF’s head of mission in Sierra Leone. “Viruses and germs are no longer contained within countries and states and guaranteeing a qualified workforce which is accessible and available is a fundamental human right.”

MSF has worked in Sierra Leone since 1986. In 1995, it sent teams to provide assistance to displaced Sierra Leoneans during and immediately after the decade-long civil war. It also launched a large-scale response during the Ebola outbreak of 2014-16.

It currently works in three districts – Kenema, Tonkolili and Bombali – providing medical care and supporting initiatives to strengthen the country’s health system.