Health Communication Capacity Collaborative Project debriefs Health Ministry on Exit Strategy

By Kadrie Koroma

The Director of Policy, Planning and Information, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Samuel Kargbo has said that the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone demonstrated the importance of health promotion in fostering a sense of community ownership and  shared responsibility for the health of the population.

Speaking during the Health Communication Capacity Collaboration (HC3) Project Exit meeting at the Ministry’s conference hall on Wednesday March 29, 2017, Dr. Kargbo reiterated that the experience gained during the outbreak is a clear indication that high-quality health promotion and adequate investment is critical in addressing trust and health issues of national priority such as maternal and infant mortality.

He said with technical and financial support of USAID funded Health Communication Capacity Collaboration project, Sierra Leone now has the cornerstone of a Health Promotion strategy that outlines a clear vision to strengthen health promotion in Sierra Leone for the next five years. He added that the Health Promotion Strategy also outlines a plan for strengthening the capacity of the Health Education Division and change agents at all levels to enable them to raise the quality of health promotion and harmonize it efforts across the country.

Dr. Kargbo appealed to all partners implementing health promotion activities to recognize the critical importance of the strategy, and work with the Health Education Division to ensure the activities in the implementation plan are implemented.

The USAID Health Adviser, Dr. Saad El-Din Hussein Hassan said the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) is a USAID-funded programme led by the John Hopkins Centre for Communication programmes.

He said HC3 implemented a Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) project in Sierra Leone between December 2015 to March 2017 to rebuild trust in the health system and encourage uptake of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) services as part of the Ebola recovery effort.

The Programme Manager, Health Education Division and Chairman for the meeting, Mr. Lansana Conteh described his Unit as one of the proud beneficiaries of the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative, and expressed gratitude and appreciation for the support.

Other highlights include presentation on HC3 project, monitoring and outcomes, data analysis, lessons learnt, recommendations, discussion, and sharing of the HC3 Global Social and Behavior Change Communication documents.