The Sierra Leone Countdown Country Collaboration, led by the Ministry of Health in partnership with Statistics Sierra Leone, the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), and Countdown to 2030, convened national health stakeholders to disseminate findings from a comprehensive five-year review of routine health facility data.

The dissemination workshop, held on 27 November 2025 at the Swiss Hotel in Freetown, examined trends from 2019 to 2024 across family planning, immunisation, and key Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) indicators. The session marked a strategic milestone in ongoing efforts to institutionalise evidence-based planning and decision-making within Sierra Leone’s health sector.

The Countdown-led discussions highlighted several critical insights. Participants reaffirmed that national health policies must be guided by evidence rather than opinion. While progress has been observed, persistent gaps remain in data quality, data use, and MNCH service coverage. Child mortality remains high at 94 deaths per 1,000 live births, with more than 70 percent of these deaths considered preventable.

Stakeholders identified priority actions to accelerate progress, including strengthening routine health information systems, scaling up clinical guidelines, expanding health insurance coverage, and reinforcing multisectoral collaboration. These measures were seen as essential to translating data into more effective health programming and improved outcomes for women, newborns, and children.

Through this process, Countdown to 2030 reaffirmed its role as a catalyst for turning data into actionable policy reforms, supporting Sierra Leone’s efforts to improve accountability, optimize health investments, and ultimately save lives.

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Source: Sierra Leone Countdown Country Collaboration dissemination workshop, Freetown; Five-Year Review of Routine MNCH, Family Planning, and Immunisation Data (2019–2024).