The Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) officially launched the country’s Advanced Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Training Program at an event in Freetown on May 13, 2019.
This six-month training course will enable the initial cohort of 25 MOHS-selected participants—including IPC focal persons, district hospital supervisors, and District Health Management Team members—to support and provide oversight of IPC activities at their respective facilities to ensure the health and safety of patients and health care professionals.
IPC has been a critical area of improvement for the health care system in Sierra Leone since the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak, which led to the death of both health care professionals and patients due to limited knowledge and resources to support IPC practices.
The IPC training course is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and implemented by ICAP at Columbia University, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN). The course is modeled after the CDC’s Field Epidemiology Training Program, with the aim of developing a cadre of IPC specialists in Sierra Leone who can provide expertise at the central, district, and hospital level.
Read more on the SwitSalone website
Read more about ICAP’s work with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation on infection prevention and control:
ICAP Boosts Infection Prevention and Control Efforts in Sierra Leone, Georgia, and Thailand
Two Infection Prevention and Control Experts in Sierra Leone Reflect on their Life-Saving Work
ICAP Supports Sierra Leone’s First-Ever Model Ward for Nursing and Midwifery
