Sierra Leone, Guinea on joint disease prevention effort

Sierra Leonean and Guinean authorities are finally considering the inevitable.

Kroo Bay Slum, one of several lining Freetown`s edge on the Atlantic Ocean

Last week there were reports that officials from the two sides had initiated discussions to map out joint strategies to prevent recurrence of cholera and other communicable diseases persistent in the sub region.

It comes at the tail end of months of a devastating cholera outbreak which cost over 400 lives.

Health officials of the two neighbouring countries converged in the northern Sierra Leonean town of Makeni for discussions involving sharing of experiences and lessons learnt from the incidents in the two countries.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, and it primarily sought to identify risk factors at border regions and to develop joint cross border operational plans.

Health experts in Sierra Leone often blame the persistence of communicable illnesses on lack of proper coordination among the neighbours, among these polio.

“Some of the prevailing diseases are preventable if there is a coordinated approach, with each country supporting the other in mapping out strategic plan to better coordinate their response activities,” said WHO`s country representative to Sierra Leone, Dr. Wondemagegnehu Alemu.

Kroo Bay Slum

“Without proper surveillance and coordinated activities to preventable diseases in the two countries, there will be problems,” he added.

Sierra Leone was said to be the hardest hit in the 2012 cholera outbreak in the region, prompting the declaration of a “health emergency” by the presidency.

Well over 20, 000 cases of infection have been recorded in what health authorities described as the most devastating cholera epidemic in the country`s history.