Sierra Leone News
Good news on NTDs
October 7th, 2015
END in Africa congratulates scientists on winning the 2015 Nobel Prize in medicine for advances in NTD and malaria drugs. The project also salutes Mexico for becoming the third country to have eliminated river blindness, joining Colombia the Ecuador. On Monday, October 5, 2015, the Nobel Committee of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm announced that three
Helen Keller International and TOMS: Motivating Community Drug Distributors in Sierra Leone
August 20th, 2015
“My old shoes are worn out and I was thinking if my parents can afford to buy me another pair of shoes before the opening of school.” – Fatmata, age 8. Efforts to fight Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are truly massive undertakings, since their success hinges upon the ability of national NTD programs to literally
Down But Not Out: Sierra Leone’s NTD Program Restarts Activities as the Ebola Threat Subsides
June 30th, 2015
It all started a year and a half ago in Guinea, West Africa, when in December 2013, the country reported several cases of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). By March 2014, the outbreak had spread to neighboring Liberia. In May, it reached also Sierra Leone, dealing a huge blow the country’s public health system, including
Benchmarking Organizational Capabilities: Where to Begin?
June 30th, 2015
NTD Program Management and Sustainable Impact Experience has shown that developing a Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) finance strategy that’s aligned with the country’s NTD Master Plan strengthens the latter and has a sustained, measurable impact. But effective finance strategies don’t happen overnight! Devising one requires a solid understanding of organizational capabilities as they related
Planning for elimination within the USAID NTD portfolio
May 20th, 2015
Most people aren’t very fond of transitions; indeed, some even avoid them. But managers of neglected tropical diseases (NTD) programs aren’t like most people. Not only do they welcome program transitions, they actually seek them out. Why? Because in the world of NTD control and elimination, transitions are powerful signs of program success. Successful national
A challenge like no other: How Sierra Leone’s NTD Program is weathering the Ebola epidemic
December 30th, 2014
It’s been very tough going for Sierra Leone’s NTD Program in the wake of the devastating Ebola crisis in that country. END in Africa recently asked Mustapha Sonnie and Stephanie Palmer, with END in Africa sub-grantee Helen Keller International, to tell us how the Ebola crisis has affected Sierra Leone’s progress toward NTD control and
With Progress Comes Challenges: As Countries Approach Lymphatic Filariasis and Trachoma Elimination, NTD Programs Look for Ways to Verify, Hang onto Success
November 18th, 2014
After years of grassroots outreach and nationwide travel to provide preventive medicines to millions of citizens, even those living in the most remote communities, END in Africa countries have good reason to celebrate the progress achieved in their fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), especially lymphatic filariasis (LF) and trachoma. In the three trachoma-endemic END
From Standardized to Just the Right Size: Customizing Standard Operating Procedures for NTD Supply Chain Management
July 1st, 2014
One of the best ways to become an expert in any field is to carefully learn, study, apply and adapt the successful techniques and methods of other well-known experts. This is true for individuals and large organizations, alike. Government agencies and programs have long recognized the benefits of learning from the experts, which is why
Surveillance, Sustainability among Topics Discussed at Spring 2014 END In Africa Partners Meeting
May 29th, 2014
Four years into the USAID-funded, FHI360-managed END in Africa project, which targets five neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)—lymphatic filariasis (LF), schistosomiasis, trachoma, onchocerciasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis—in the five fast-track West African countries of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo, about 50 stakeholders met in the Ghanaian capital city of Accra to review progress and
Cross-Border Collaboration for NTD Control in Mano River Union Countries
February 25th, 2014
As national NTD program (NTDP) officials well know, communities in outlying areas such as border regions differ in many respects from those in other parts of the country. Their populations tend to be more transient and multi-cultural; they speak various languages and come from distinct ethnic groups. Reaching each person with NTD drug treatments, as
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