In April 2019, ICAP and the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation officially launched the 2017 Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) Report, followed by a two-day workshop for senior ministry staff, district council staff, and health facility managers on data use for decision-making. These activities were supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Unlike the previous SARAs, the 2017 SARA was implemented in all health facilities throughout Sierra Leone, presenting a complete picture of the status of service delivery in the country, especially in the light of the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic.

As a precursor to the SARA activities, ICAP worked with the ministry to conduct a rapid situational analysis aimed at identifying barriers and enablers of data use for decision-making at national, district, and health facility levels. The findings indicated that there was not a strong culture of data use in the health sector, particularly in making policy-related decisions.

“These results have informed ICAP’s capacity building and training strategy to support data use for decision-making,” said Mame Awa Toure, MD, MSc, ICAP’s country director in Sierra Leone. “We hope to empower participants to utilize various analytical tools to identify challenges and find solutions in their everyday work.”

Read the full article on the Sierra Leone Telegraph website