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Improving quality of care to save lives in Sierra Leone [1]

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Date: 2024-12

Freetown ‒ Sierra Leone has long had one of the world’s highest burdens of maternal mortality. But local health authorities have made commendable efforts to combat this devastating trend, as well high rates of infant mortality, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.

Pregnant women, mothers, and children aged under 5 years receive free health care as part of a government initiative launched in 2010. The Ministry of Health is periodically opening new health facilities, with a particular emphasis on rural areas. Such interventions have seen Sierra Leone’s maternal mortality rate reduce by around 40% between 2013 and 2019, from 1165 deaths per 100 000 live births to 717, while infant mortality has also seen a 30% decrease over the same period.

However, the country remains a long way off the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goal for maternal mortality of 70 deaths per 100 000 live births. After a 2018 national report showed more than two thirds of maternal deaths were occurring in health facilities and were preventable with effective health measures, Sierra Leone has shifted its focus to bolstering the quality of care in its health facilities.

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[1] Url: https://www.afro.who.int/photo-story/improving-quality-care-save-lives-sierra-leone

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