West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative (WADPI)

The Government of Sierra Leone has provided two acres of land at John Obey community to ‘Hope 4 Ebola Orphans Charity Foundation’ and its partners for the construction of state of the- art children’s village for orphans, especially those children orphaned by the Ebola Virus Disease and other less privileged children in Sierra Leone.

Hope 4 Ebola Orphans is a diaspora led organization recognized by the Office of Diaspora Affairs (ODA) which was created by His Excellency the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma to harness the diaspora towards national developments.

The Parliament of Sierra Leone has on Tuesday 24th May 2016, after a protracted debate, unanimously approved two agreements for the expansion and strengthening of the agricultural sector through commercialization.

The two agreements that were approved by Parliament were; financing agreement (smallholder commercialization and agri-business development project) between the Republic of Sierra Leone and the International Development Association, dated 14th March, 2016, credit number 5767-SL and Project agreement (smallholder commercialization and agri-business development project) between the International Development Association and Apex Bank Limited, dated 14th March, 2016, credit number 5767-SL

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says the ongoing measles outbreak highlights the importance of being immunised.

The Waikato region is experiencing a significant measles outbreak, and visitors to and from Waikato have led to further measles cases in the Nelson Marlborough, Northland and MidCentral DHB areas.

“Measles is a highly infectious and potentially serious disease. Around 30 per cent of people with measles will develop complications, and 1 in 10 may require hospital treatment,” says Dr Coleman.

“It can affect both children and adults. Low immunisation levels among certain age groups mean outbreaks can spread.

Infectious diseases are one of the biggest killers in the world. Almost 5 million children under age 5 die each year from infectious diseases worldwide, yet many infections are treatable if the pathogen culprit can be quickly and accurately identified.