Ministry of Health

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Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health believes that access to sound health is a human right.

Its vision is to ensure a functional national health system that delivers efficient and quality health services that are accessible and affordable for all Sierra Leoneans.

Financing the Future of Care: Minister Demby Welcomes UNECA Delegation.Freetown, 12th, October, 2026.Today, the Honourab...
12/10/2026

Financing the Future of Care: Minister Demby Welcomes UNECA Delegation.

Freetown, 12th, October, 2026.

Today, the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby, PhD, MPH, received a high-level delegation from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to discuss sustainable health financing models for Sierra Leone.

The delegation is here to support Sierra Leone’s own health financing reform, which includes a universal basic package that is free at the point of care and a complementary contributory insurance package. The goal is simple: care is available when people need it, and falling sick does not push families into hardship.

Think of a mother in a rural community who reaches her local health facility in labour. Under the reform the Ministry of Health is pursuing, a basic package of essential services would be free at the point of care, so cost does not keep her away. The facility is funded on time, and its shelves hold the medicines and vaccines that she and her newborn need.

Sustainable health financing is central to accelerating progress toward Triple Zero. The 300 Days of Activism has shown what is possible when leadership, real-time data and frontline action come together. This engagement is building the financing foundation to protect those gains.

This week, the Ministries of Health, Finance, and Planning and Economic Development are working closely with UNECA to test the numbers and identify sustainable, domestic ways to fund the health sector.

08/10/2026

Imagine waking up one morning and seeing your grandchild's face for the first time.

Freetown | 8 October, 2026.

Pa Sorie is 68. He used to farm his own land in the north of Sierra Leone. Then, slowly, the world went cloudy. First he couldn't see the path to his field. Then he couldn't recognise faces. Today a young grandson leads him by the hand, missing school to do it.

Pa Sorie isn't a real person, but his story is real for thousands of Sierra Leoneans. Cataract, or jegay, causes more than half of all blindness in our country, and it can be reversed with a short operation.

The problem is access. Only about six ophthalmologists serve nearly 9 million people.

That's why Hope for Salone is bringing a FREE Mega Eye Cataract (Jegay) Surgery campaign to the north and other places with 3,000 surgeries planned in under two weeks.

📅 11th – 18th October 2026
📍 Makeni Government Hospital, Northern Province

📅 19th – 22nd October 2026
📍 Kambia Government Hospital, Kambia District

👉 Go for an eye check-up NOW at any Government Eye Clinic to benefit. One short surgery. One bandage removed. One life given back, and a child returned to school.

Do you know someone living with jegay? Share this post. It may be the reason they see again. 🙏

Organised by the Seventh-day Adventist Church Sierra Leone and It Is Written, in partnership with the Ministry of Health's National Eye Health Program and Hope in Sight.

A safe place to heal, built for children 🇸🇱💙Ola During Children’s Hospital |FreetownEvery parent knows the fear of a chi...
07/10/2026

A safe place to heal, built for children 🇸🇱💙

Ola During Children’s Hospital |Freetown

Every parent knows the fear of a child's fever that won't break. In Sierra Leone, that fear is all too familiar, and it is children who are hit hardest. Today 7th October 2026, at the Ola During Children's Hospital in Freetown, that story began to change.

The Project Panel was unveiled for the construction of a new child-friendly isolation unit. Here, a sick child can receive safe, specialised care during an outbreak without being treated as a danger, and a frightened family can find reassurance.

But a building alone does not save lives. People do. That is why this project also invests in the nurses, doctors, technicians and support staff who will bring the ward to life. They will receive training in infection prevention and control, triage, intensive care, maintenance and psychosocial support. The hospital's management will be strengthened too, so the unit runs safely and reliably for years to come.

All this is made possible by the Government of Sierra Leone and the Government of Germany, through BMZ and GIZ. Congratulations to the Government and people of Sierra Leone on this milestone, and thank you to the Ministry of Health, the National Public Health Agency, the hospital team and every partner making it possible.

Today is a celebration, and also a promise: that every child receives timely, safe and compassionate care, especially when an outbreak strikes.

Yesterday, Sierra Leone sat down to talk about its mothers and children.Freetown | 7th October, 2026.In Sierra Leone, th...
07/10/2026

Yesterday, Sierra Leone sat down to talk about its mothers and children.

Freetown | 7th October, 2026.

In Sierra Leone, the arrival of a baby should be a day of singing, not mourning. That simple conviction is what drives the Minister of Health, Austin Demby, PhD, MPH, and his team to want to save more mothers from dying during childbirth and it’s that same conviction that brought the Ministry of Health officials, The Ministry of Information and Civic Education, partners and ordinary citizens together yesterday at the Miatta Civic Centre for a special townhall on the country's 300 Days of Activism for Triple Zero. Held under the theme "Achieving triple zero together: Progress, challenges and next steps," the 2pm gathering was a chance for the public to hear how far the campaign has come and to ask what happens next.

There is progress to report as the Deputy Minister of Health II, Jalikatu Mustapha, highlighted. “The curve is bending, but mothers are still dying in childbirth and children are still not surviving to celebrate their first birthdays. Our goal is zero, and with the final stretch of the campaign ahead, the work continues.“

With 73% of the campaign completed, maternal deaths have been slashed by over 30%, which means more mothers are now going home with their babies. Child death is down by 12.1% compared to 2025; meaning that more children are now living to see another birthday. And, 110.3% of the 9,006 target for zero dosed children has been reached and surpassed. This also means that children who had never received a single vaccine are now protected.

“One of the most important things that has helped us achieve these results is the weekly maternal and child mortality meetings.” Says Dr. Mustapha Kabba, the Chief Medical Officer for the Ministry of Health. He went on;

“Every maternal death, whether in a health facility or community, is investigated, with District Situation Rooms reviewing the causes and identifying solutions. The findings are shared during weekly national meetings involving district health teams, hospital managers, ministry officials and partners to ensure accountability and timely action to prevent similar deaths.”

Questions came from the hall, by text to 818 and online and they were answered openly. Behind every one of them was a family: a mother who should come home safely from the labour ward, a baby who deserves a first birthday, and a child still waiting for a first vaccine.

Thank you to everyone who came, watched live and sent in questions. With about 80 days of the campaign left, the work continues, and it belongs to all of us.

Missed it? Watch the full townhall on the Ministry of Information and Civic Education page.

Join us tomorrow for the 300 Days of Activism for Triple Zero Special Townhall!Over the past 200 days, Sierra Leone's ...
05/10/2026

Join us tomorrow for the 300 Days of Activism for Triple Zero Special Townhall!

Over the past 200 days, Sierra Leone's campaign has made remarkable progress in maternal and child care.
Together with The Ministry of Information and Civic Education, we will explore the factors driving this change and share plans for achieving the Triple Zero target.

🟢 Walk with us for Mental Health! 🟢Join the Ministry of Health, Directorate of Non-communicable Diseases & Mental Health...
30/09/2026

🟢 Walk with us for Mental Health! 🟢

Join the Ministry of Health, Directorate of Non-communicable Diseases & Mental Health, and our partners for the Mental Health Walk on World Mental Health Day.

📅 Saturday, October 10, 2026
⏰ 7:00 AM
📍 Start: Youyi Building, Brookfields
🏁 Finish: Family Kingdom

Mental health is health. Every step we take together helps break the silence and stigma, and reminds anyone who is struggling that they are not alone. 💚

Wear green, bring a friend, and let's walk together!

Every brick laid today is a promise kept for tomorrow. Health Ministry continues to invest in Healthcare infrastructure....
29/09/2026

Every brick laid today is a promise kept for tomorrow. Health Ministry continues to invest in Healthcare infrastructure.

Picture a mother in Waterloo who no longer has to travel far with a sick child in the night. Picture a family in Lumley finding a clean hospital bed close to home when they need it most. That's what the Minister of Health, Austin Demby, PhD, MPH, has emphasized that these walls are being built for.

Yesterday, the Deputy Minister of Health 2, the Senior Permanent Secretary and other high level officials walked the construction sites of three major hospitals in Lumley, Kerry Town and Waterloo. At Lumley, a 100-bed hospital is taking shape. In Kerry Town, several health facilities are rising side by side. In Waterloo, another hospital is on its way.

They didn't just look. They asked the contractors hard questions about timelines, quality and the challenges slowing things down, because these facilities must be built right, built to standard and built on time.

The Deputy Minister was clear: “every project must meet its agreed specifications, timelines and quality standards. Our people deserve nothing less.
We'll keep showing up, monitoring and pushing until these doors open to the communities that need them.”💙

Jalikatu Mustapha

25/09/2026

Watch the highlights from Sierra Leone's Triple Zero side event at UNGA 81, where the Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby, PhD, MPH, called on global partners to sustain the country's momentum in ending preventable maternal and child deaths.

Dr. DEMBY PRESENTS INVESTMENT CASE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN'S HEALTH AT UNGA81Harvard Club, New York | 21 September 2026Si...
24/09/2026

Dr. DEMBY PRESENTS INVESTMENT CASE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN'S HEALTH AT UNGA81

Harvard Club, New York | 21 September 2026

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby represented the country at the Global Leaders Network (GLN) Financial Diplomacy Series, a high-level ministerial working session held during a side event at the ongoing 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The session, co-hosted by , Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health PMNCH and CGHD/WHEN, brought together Ministers of Health and Finance from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya and South Africa, along with development finance institutions, philanthropies and partners from South Korea, Australia, Canada, Indonesia and East Timor.
Dr. Austin Demby, PhD, focused on translating Sierra Leone’s healthcare priorities, particularly the zero-preventable maternal and child deaths campaign, into financing plans that can be transformed to sustainable action.

Minister Demby made a strong business case for maternal, newborn and child health, built around the for Triple Zeros: zero preventable maternal deaths, zero preventable child deaths and zero, zero dosed children.

According to Dr. Demby, Sierra Leone is moving away from aid dependency, towards results-based investments. Through real-time, location-based data, the Ministry of health is following pregnancies so that every mother and baby can be reached with life-saving care and every result can be measured.

"We are not just asking for investment. We are showing the return on that investment in the lives we save," the Minister said.

The high-level discussions highlighted a mix major topics including finance, local manufacturing of vaccines and essential commodities, building a resilient health workforce, and clean energy transition for improved health service delivery. Country representatives shared lessons with each other on new ways of financing health care endeavors.

Sierra Leone's Chief Medical Officer Tells UNGA Digital Health Symposium That Technology Must Help Health Workers Act in...
23/09/2026

Sierra Leone's Chief Medical Officer Tells UNGA Digital Health Symposium That Technology Must Help Health Workers Act in Time.

Sierra Leone's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Mustapha Kabba, has called on global health leaders, technology developers and investors to judge digital health and artificial intelligence (AI) by one standard: whether they help health workers make the right decisions in time to save lives.

Dr. Kabba made this call earlier today while delivering the Keynote address at the Featured International Plenary of the 6th UNGA Digital Health Symposium themed "Healthcare Innovation in Low-Resource Settings: The Digital and AI Advantage."

Drawing on his experience as a clinician, Dr. Kabba said time is central to good care. "The value of a test result depends partly on when it arrives. A referral depends on whether the receiving team knows the patient is coming. A warning matters when there is still an opportunity to respond," he said. "Technology earns its place when it helps those people act in time."

Building on this progress, Dr. Kabba highlighted the National Health Information Hub, launched by the Minister of Health Austin Demby, PhD, MPH earlier this year. The Hub brings together information from health facilities, laboratories, surveillance teams and supply services, which until now has often been reported separately. With these sources in one place, national and district health teams can see the health system more clearly and target interventions where they are needed most.

Dr. Kabba urged partners and investors to make sure every new digital tool connects with Sierra Leone's existing national systems. He ended his speech with a question for every future investment and design decision: "Whose work will improve, and how will we know?"

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4th & 5th Floors Youyi Building
Freetown

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Monday 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 17:00
Saturday 09:00 - 17:00
Sunday 09:00 - 17:00

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+23277468468

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