Sierra Leone to begin cholera vaccination drive in disaster-affected areas

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Published: Wednesday, 06 September 2017 10:54

More than 1 million doses of Gavi-funded cholera vaccines heading to Sierra Leone after severe flooding and landslides

News release

5 September 2017 | Freetown - Half a million people in Sierra Leone will be able to access the life-saving cholera vaccine within weeks, the country’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation announced on Tuesday.

The vaccines will be received from the Gavi-funded global stockpile and will target areas particularly affected by August’s floods and deadly landslide, which resulted in over 500 confirmed deaths. Hundreds more people were reported missing in the wake of the disaster, according to the Office of National Security, while thousands were displaced from their homes.

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A chat with the National Blood Bank at Connaught

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Published: Wednesday, 26 July 2017 10:45

KMNA – Freetown (July 26). On the occasion of World Blood Donor Day commemorated on June 14, KMN talked to Saio Y. Koroma, Medical Laboratory Officer at the National Blood Bank at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.

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Blood Donation: Living the experience and Saving lives

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Published: Wednesday, 26 July 2017 10:15

RSLAF personnel take turn to donate blood at the Benguema Barracks

KMN – Freetown (July 26). As journalists, we do not only report events, we also live the experience sometimes, while on the job.

This is what KMN’s Rachael Williams of Culture Radio  demonstrated  when she accompanied a joint team of the Safe Blood Services of Connaught and Cottage hospitals at the Benguema Military Barracks to cover a blood donation ceremony.

Benguema, located in the heart of the small town of Waterloo, about 30km from Freetown, was one of over a dozen centers designated as donation site for a nationwide coordinated voluntary blood donation exercise. It was part of this year's World Blood Donor Day, commemorated every June 14.
Sierra Leone delayed the commemoration to organize the nationwide donation ceremony on June 21.

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2.1 billion people lack safe drinking water at home, more than twice as many lack safe sanitation

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Published: Thursday, 13 July 2017 11:11

News release

12 July 2017 | GENEVA | NEW YORK - Some 3 in 10 people worldwide, or 2.1 billion, lack access to safe, readily available water at home, and 6 in 10, or 4.5 billion, lack safely managed sanitation, according to a new report by WHO and UNICEF.

The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report, Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and Sustainable Development Goal baselines, presents the first global assessment of “safely managed” drinking water and sanitation services. The overriding conclusion is that too many people still lack access, particularly in rural areas.

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