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Vaccines in Developing Countries: Victory in Vaccination

Vaccines in Developing CountriesThe World Health Organization’s (WHO) “World Immunization Week 2025” lasted from April 24 to April 30, celebrating the 154 million lives vaccines have saved over the past 50 years. Governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have united in the mission to end preventable diseases and their efforts have already eradicated smallpox and nearly eradicated polio. Building on this momentum, several countries have successfully rolled out immunization campaigns in the past year alone. Here are four vaccines in developing countries that inspire hope for a healthier future.

Malaria Vaccine in Sudan

The Federal Ministry of Health (Sudan), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), WHO and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance partnered in November 2024 to distribute the first malaria vaccines in Sudan. Indeed, the country is the first in the WHO’s East Mediterranean region to introduce a vaccine for the disease.

Sudan has one of the highest rates of malaria infection in the region, with more than 1.3 million cases in 2023, of which 22.3% were children. Ongoing conflict has caused vaccination coverage to fall to 30% in active-conflict zones. However, the campaign distributed the vaccines to 15 health facilities and 148,000 children. The number of facilities will rise to 129 throughout 2025 and 2026.

Ebola Vaccine in Sierra Leone

Alongside Liberia and Guinea, Sierra Leone was one of the three countries most affected by the 2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak. However, it is the first of the three to introduce a nationwide preventive vaccine for the disease. The campaign began in December 2024 and administered the vaccine to 20,000 health care workers across 16 districts.

Health care workers carry a high risk of infection when treating the Ebola virus. Sierra Leone lost 7% of its health care workforce to the disease during the 2014 outbreak. The campaign follows a series of immunization successes in the country. It has also reached 90% diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine coverage since 2001 and 100% human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage as of September 2024. Sierra Leone shows that vaccines in developing countries can achieve and sustain results.

Vaccine Education in Trinidad and Tobago

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) led a two-day workshop for 79 school nurses in Trinidad and Tobago that covered how to talk to patients about vaccines and correct misconceptions. The country is emphasizing HPV vaccination, which can prevent 70% of cases of cervical cancer, for children 9–14 years old.

In Trinidad and Tobago, there are an estimated 202 women diagnosed with cervical cancer and 127 die from it every year. The nurses found the sessions informative and now have strategies to communicate the safety of vaccines to their patients. This signals a productive future for vaccines in developing countries.

Vaccines in Conflict-Affected Areas of Cameroon

In 2024, the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS) partnered with UNICEF to bring vaccines to conflict-affected northwest and southwest Cameroon areas. Non-State Armed Groups initially prevented the health care workers from entering the regions. However, Ful Morine Fuen of CBCHS persuaded them, saying they could not “kill diseases like malaria, diarrhea, etc. with a gun” but with vaccination.

The workers targeted displaced families, assessing the vaccination status of children aged 6 months to 5 years. They referred children needing vaccines to local facilities or administered vaccines through mobile clinics. Twelve families were hesitant about vaccination, but 11 of them agreed to it after workers discussed the benefits. In total, 473 children received the necessary vaccines.

Looking Ahead

Vaccines in developing countries have helped thousands of people in the past year. The continued efforts of local governments and international health organizations will stop the spread of preventable diseases. They will save even more lives by World Immunization Week 2026.

– Tyler Payne

Tyler is based in Allentown, PA, USA and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Sierra Leone Launches Successful Ebola Vaccination Campaign

Ebola Vaccination CampaignSierra Leone’s Ministry of Health launched a nationwide preventive Ebola vaccination campaign. Starting on Dec. 5, 2024, the three-week effort aimed at protecting 20,000 frontline workers against the Ebola virus. While similar higher-coverage campaigns were conducted in Guinea-Bissau (2021), Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2022), this initiative is the first of its kind in West Africa. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, provided a single dose of the Ervebo vaccine to frontline workers, with training, technical assistance and logistical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

In an interview with The Borgen Project, Francisco Luquero, Gavi’s Head of High-Impact Outbreaks, highlighted the importance of the initiative. “The campaign’s impact will be significant to strengthen the country’s preparedness for future outbreaks by protecting frontline workers.”

Campaign Successes

The nationwide campaign targeted various at-risk communities, including health care professionals and first responders such as ambulance and motorcycle drivers. Village hunters were also vaccinated to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus from animals to humans. Luquero told The Borgen Project that Gavi achieved 94% coverage among the target group of 20,000 frontline workers. 

“Health care workers expressed satisfaction with the campaign, recognizing its importance in protecting themselves and their communities from future outbreaks,” says Luquero. He also stated that vaccine confidence and awareness also improved due to information provided about the vaccine’s benefits and side effects, as well as guidance on what to do in case of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI). Gavi noted that these information dissemination efforts, along with “robust logistical support” from WHO and UNICEF, were crucial to the campaign’s successful rollout.

Ebola 2014 – 2016 Outbreak

The 2014 Ebola virus epidemic began in Guinea. It spread to at least 10 other countries, firstly through neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. With no vaccine available at the time of the outbreak, health care workers were limited in their response capacities. The epidemic resulted in 28,000 confirmed infections and approximately 11,000 deaths, making the outbreak “the deadliest in history.” Sierra Leone was the hardest-hit country, accounting for an estimated 36% of recorded deaths and losing 7% of its medical personnel.

Ebola Vaccinations

Gavi funded a stockpile of half a million doses of Ervebo in 2021, just three years after WHO and the European Medicines Agency approved the vaccine. The majority of the vaccines are allocated for preventive Ebola vaccination campaigns similar to the one in Sierra Leone, targeting at-risk communities. About 5% of the remaining stockpile is reserved for emergency outbreaks. This distribution is due to Ebola outbreaks being relatively uncommon and not having a large enough stockpile to cover entire populations.

WHO defines at-risk persons through a ring vaccination strategy, which “captures a social network of individuals and locations” comprising around 150 people per vaccination ring. To be included in a preventive Ebola vaccination campaign, one must either be a frontline worker or have in the last 21 days:

  • Lived in the same household or been in close contact with an infected person displaying symptoms of the virus,
  • Had physical contact with an infected person’s “body, body fluids, linen or clothes.”
  • Being a neighbor or family member (including extended family) “at the closest geographic boundary of all contacts.”
  • Or lived in the same residence as anyone else included within the vaccination circle.

For the Future

Following the campaign in Sierra Leone, Luquero shared that Gavi plans to improve several aspects of its vaccination efforts. “Key lessons include enhancing vaccine confidence, strengthening case management protocols for adverse events, and improving supply chain and data management.” Indeed, a total of 18 countries are eligible for a preventive Ebola vaccination campaign, with the Central African Republic expected to be the next to participate.

Although the likelihood of Ebola epidemics is low, vaccinated persons must continue to take precautions to protect themselves from infection. This includes avoiding direct contact with the bodies, bodily fluids and clothing of infected individuals. Additionally, Sierra Leone would also need to improve its population’s access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to help mitigate the risk of the virus spreading.

While the vaccine does not eliminate the threat of an Ebola virus outbreak, these preventive vaccination campaigns can fortify health care systems and enhance community preparedness in case the virus spreads in endemic regions.

– Nesreen Yousfi

Nesreen is based in Watford, Hertfordshire, UK and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Latest Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Comes to an End

Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the CongoOn July 4, 2022, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ministry of Health announced the conclusion of the Ebola virus outbreak that impacted the Mbandaka and Wangata health zones. The Ministry of Health officially declared the outbreak on April 23, 2022, after establishing the presence of the Ebola virus in a 31-year-old male who died on April 21, 2022. The Ministry of Health partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations to control the outbreak and prevent further spread, measures that seem to have curbed the impact of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak.

Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Taking into account this most recent outbreak, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak count has reached 14 since 1976, with six of those outbreaks taking place from 2018 onward. While this number is staggering, it does not necessarily stand out among the numbers reported by fellow African nations. The United Nations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO have long been involved in fighting Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the rest of Africa. The recording of a large number of outbreaks means that these organizations and countries are able to deploy well-researched methods of treatment and containment.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola Outbreak in 2022

This latest Ebola outbreak in the Equateur Province of the country is the province’s third outbreak since 2018. Health authorities immediately sent a shipment of vaccines to the province from the city of Goma, which undoubtedly helped in the short nature of this outbreak, with it lasting just a few months. The experience of national emergency teams backed by the WHO resulted in a quick response and the deployment of counteractive measures including testing, vaccinations and contact tracing.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak claimed five lives out of five cases reported with a fatality rate of 100%. These statistics are much lower than the country’s previous outbreak, lasting from June 2020 to November 2020, which saw 130 cases and 55 deaths.

Next Steps

As the country recovers from yet another outbreak of the Ebola virus, the thought of an additional epidemic soon looms overhead. While the number of outbreaks is no cause for celebration, the experience gained from a large number of recent outbreaks better prepares the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the U.N. and the WHO for future epidemics. The development of vaccines, treatments, contact tracing and other preventive measures will lead to a decreased number of future cases and deaths. The country’s partnership with critical health organizations will ensure better disease response and more resilient health care systems.

All in all, as treatment options and medication develops, the state of the recurring Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo appears to be more manageable. The Democratic Republic of Congo controlled this latest outbreak quickly and efficiently, a standard that the country is primed to replicate. While another outbreak is not completely preventable, the country can mitigate the impacts.

– Thomas Schneider
Photo: Flickr

 

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Child Poverty in Guinea Persists

Child Poverty in Guinea
Guinea is a country located on Africa’s west coast. While it is small, Guinea has some of the largest deposits of iron in the world and has a valuable amount of agricultural and natural resources. However, the country continues to have high poverty rates, with 43.7% of Guineans living below the poverty line in 2018. This situation is primarily due to political unrest and a lack of investment in the country’s infrastructure. Child poverty in Guinea also became exacerbated by poor healthcare and a lack of protection against labor and trafficking.

Health in Guinea

Health in Guinea has been a constant issue that contributes to poverty. The average life expectancy for men is 53 and the average life expectancy for women is 56. Moreover, the infant and maternal mortality rates are high because there is a lack of medical resources in Guinea. Numerous children die from curable and preventable diseases, such as yellow fever, polio, measles and malaria.

Furthermore, the Ebola outbreak in 2014 shed light on other healthcare issues in Guinea. Guinea was one of the Ebola epicenters and, unfortunately, there were not enough doctors, nurses, beds or equipment to aid those in need. With every available resource needed to fight the outbreak, treatments for preventable medical conditions were often not available. Additionally, child malnutrition rose because of the Ebola epidemic, as food prices went up and many families could not afford to eat. Roughly 320,000 children under the age of 5 need medical treatment for malnutrition.

Child Labor and Trafficking

It is estimated that there are about 5.6 million children under the age of 18 in Guinea. Roughly 670,000 of them are growing up without their parents. Many of these children have lost their parents because of AIDS. The significant number of orphans has forced children to work, which is a violation of human rights. There is a lack of oversight for mining activities, so children often end up working in the dangerous conditions of the mines. The harmful substances in mines are dangerous and unsuitable for adults, let alone children. Additionally, children who work in the mines generally drop out of school because they are not able to work and receive an education at the same time.

Child poverty in Guinea has also resulted in child trafficking and sex trafficking. However, there is a concerning lack of data on this topic. Child trafficking remains a big concern in Guinea. In court cases, many of the alleged perpetrators go unpunished. Furthermore, the victims of trafficking are not given the support they need to reintegrate into society.

SOS Children’s Villages

To improve the lives of children in Guinea, it is imperative that support, healthcare and education are provided at an early age. SOS Children’s Villages is an organization that supports children who do not have parental care. With the help of donors, governments, communities and other organizations, it assists impoverished communities and disadvantaged children. SOS Children’s Village’s strategy is solely geared toward sustainable development goals in areas such as child protection, poverty, education, health, inequality and proper work hours. The organization works with locals to aid families that are vulnerable to poverty, so young children can grow up with their families

– Candice Lewis
Photo: Flickr

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ICTs: Amplifying Voices of Women During COVID-19

ICTsIn recent years, studies have shown that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have proven to be helpful for vulnerable communities on many different fronts. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been observed that women have increasingly used ICTs, especially those in developing countries.

Hear Her Voice Project

Hear Her Voice is a research project that stemmed from the pandemic itself, allowing 25 girls from five different countries, Bangladesh, India, Malawi, Nigeria and the United States, to share their experiences during COVID-19. These firsthand narratives are insightful as they vlog their daily lives from various different technological platforms. These intimate conversations equip the women with the tools to better educate the public on the struggles they face with menstrual health, relationships, mental health, isolation and livelihoods during COVID-19.

The platform showcased the struggles women had when it came to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), especially in Jaipur and Munger. One of the Technology Enabled Girl Ambassadors (TEGA) is Carol, a 23-year-old woman from Munger, India, who shared her struggles with obtaining sanitary pads due to restricted mobility. When she first got her period during the lockdown, she was unable to obtain pads in time and was therefore left with no feminine hygiene products whatsoever.

Women Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19

A study done by the U.N. found that women’s economic resources in Asia and the Pacific are being hit the most. The pandemic has made gender inequalities more prevalent than ever, with the discrepancy highest in family businesses, remittances, property and savings. On top of this, it has been found that COVID-19 governmental aid is not as readily available to women as they are for men. The report stated 84% of women outside of formal employment lack social protections like unemployment support or government financial help. Women are suffering more than men all across the charts: 61% saw decreases in their income, savings and investments; 66% saw their mental health plummeting and  63% saw increased time spent doing unpaid domestic work.

Similar Scenarios During Ebola and Zika

During the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, women had consistently been the sole caretakers and health care providers, putting them at a higher risk of contracting these highly contagious viruses. The Zika virus in Latin America displayed how reproductive health services were limited and overlooked due to health care services allocating all of their resources into combating the epidemic. These unequal gendered patterns are yet again repeating themselves with COVID-19, the disadvantages being most pronounced for women.

The Impact of ICTs

Overall, information and communication technologies have been utilized by vulnerable minority groups ever since the rise of their prevalence in recent years. These innovative technological modes of communication are reshaping and expanding the uses of social media. The Hear Her Voice project is one of the many initiatives that have been using ICTs in the wake of a pandemic, to give a voice to women and the unique challenges they face and bring global awareness, support and assistance.

Additionally, ICTs provide helplines, applications, resource centers and more, so that women so can access the help and support they require. These platforms are transforming lives by amplifying and uplifting the voices of women during COVID-19.

– Mina Kim
Photo: Flickr

How Was a Two-Year Ebola Outbreak Snuffed?

Ebola outbreakThe Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has ravaged countries in sub-Saharan Africa since its identification in 1976. Overall, there have been 34 outbreaks of Ebola in Western Africa, 11 of which have occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The largest Ebola outbreak, considered a global pandemic, lasted from 2014 to 2016. It mostly affected countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. At the time, a total of 11,310 deaths were reported due to the disease.

The fatality rate for Ebola has ranged between 25% and 90%, depending on the severity of the outbreak and on the healthcare infrastructure of affected countries. The more modern and accessible these systems were, the more efficient the surveillance and treatment options. The second-largest outbreak of Ebola began in the Kivu region of the DRC on Aug. 1, 2018, and was only declared over as recently as June of 2020.

Containment in the DRC

Comparing the 2014 Ebola outbreak with the one that occurred in 2018 reveals a relative improvement. From 2014 to 2016, there were 28,616 EVD cases that resulted in 11,310 deaths. On the other hand, from 2018 to 2020, there were only 3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths reported.

DRC’s commendable public health response to the 2018 Ebola outbreak led to this outcome. Pre-existing infrastructural inadequacies and a lack of trust in health care officials have been the major challenges faced during Ebola occurrences. Though many of these problems continue, the better use of surveillance, contact tracing, prevention strategies and safe burial practices have greatly shaped how the most recent outbreak developed. Additionally, the global health community has made strides in vaccine development and treatment programs, making the defeat and containment of this epidemic possible.

Safe and Dignified Burials

Because the virus is transmitted through direct contact with an infected individual (living or deceased), traditional burial practices that require family members to wash the body pose a significant risk to communities during Ebola outbreaks.

In 2014, rural populations of Sierra Leone experienced surges in reported Ebola cases as a direct result of community members’ attending funerals and touching infected corpses. Since then, the CDC, the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the WHO have provided guidelines for safe protocols when handling potentially infected corpses. These protocols involve trained personnel and extensive personal protective equipment (PPE). During the recent contained Ebola outbreak, 88% of funerals utilized safe and dignified burial practices.

Vaccination Efforts

As a result of the most recent epidemic, 16,000 local responders and 1,500 WHO health workers collaborated to provide effective vaccines to 303,000 people. Individuals were considered eligible for vaccination if they had previous contact with an infected individual or were a frontline worker in an affected or at-risk area. Treatment centers, field laboratories and an Ebola national care program were also set up to care for patients, providing weekly test samples and follow-up with survivors.

EVD versus COVID-19

The world has seen other deadly viruses before COVID-19. SARS, Ebola and even the annual flu are some examples. COVID-19 stands out because it is easily spreadable and the rate of asymptomatic transmission is high. Asymptomatic transmission occurs when individuals don’t know they are infected and, as a result, spread the virus without knowing. Even though Ebola is highly contagious toward the end of the infection period, infected individuals show intense symptoms, so it is not easy for the virus to fly under the radar as COVID-19 tends to do.

Moreover, while health responses against Ebola are significant in fighting the spread of the virus, the vaccine and treatments are the real superheroes in protecting large populations and infected patients from the virus. As the world witnessed in the 2014 outbreak, Ebola left a devastating death toll in its wake without a vaccine. There are currently no viable vaccine or treatment options for the coronavirus, although development is currently in progress.

Moving Forward

Because preparedness plays a large role in within-country health responses, it is hopeful that future Ebola outbreaks will be contained. The health responses, vaccination programs and treatment options utilized by the DRC are applicable to other countries as well. Aid from WHO and other health agencies will lessen the threat of Ebola in Western Africa and the world.

– Nye Day
Photo: Flickr

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4 Organizations Improving Education in Sierra Leone

Education in Sierra LeoneMany important improvements in educational outcomes have occurred in Sierra Leone since 2015, especially for women and children. The country is bouncing back from the civil war, Ebola crisis and other serious challenges. This progress is partially owed to organizations that help children go to school. Several NGOs and community-based actors support education in Sierra Leone. Here is a small glimpse into the work of many.

4 Organizations Improving Education in Sierra Leone

  1. Street Child: Street Child’s goal is to improve the educational prospects of the world’s poorest and most marginalized children. Since its founding, the organization has helped more than 250,000 children escape poverty and go to school.  It originally started by improving education in Sierra Leone, where it began a project for 100 children in a small northern village. It has since expanded to serve children in ten other countries. Some of its work involves providing young girls with school supplies and giving families financial support. The organization also trains teachers and supplies classroom materials.
  2. Mother’s Club: After setbacks and challenges from the Ebola outbreak, mothers in Sierra Leone began organizing to ensure their children would receive a full education. Mother’s Clubs are village and community-based networks that sell products to fund their children’s schooling. Profits from farming, tye-dyeing, gardening and soap making pay for school supplies, books and uniforms. Thanks to these self-starters, with aid from international partners like UNICEF, communities can help drive positive educational outcomes.
  3. Girls Access to Education (GATE): Funded by U.K. Aid and its partners, Girl’s Access to Education (GATE) aims to help girls from disadvantaged households go to school and enables out-of-school girls to resume their education. Importantly, it also empowers communities to create their own solutions. The net enrollment rates in both primary and secondary education have consistently increased since 2013, due in part to their work. Where the literacy rate for girls ages 15-24 was less than 40% in 2005, that figure rose to 62.7% in 2018. The gap between male and female literacy rates continues to drastically decrease as well. This speaks to an overwhelmingly positive impact on Sierra Leone’s children and youth.
  4. Teach for All: Teach for All is a network of education partners and nonprofits who work together to help inspire change on a global scale. The organization announced Teach for Sierra Leone as its latest partner in July 2020. Similarly to other actors, Teach for Sierra Leone is community-driven and recognizes educational disparities in the country as an urgent issue. They aim to bridge education gaps by recruiting women and teachers from under-resourced schools whose efforts will help break the cycle of global poverty.

A Brighter Future

Overall, these organizations play a critical role in improving access to education in Sierra Leone. Currently, many schools have been disrupted due to COVID-19, but now radio lessons bridge the learning gap until reopening. So long as outside actors continue to provide foreign aid, assist in educational outcomes and empower communities, children in Sierra Leone will be able to reach their fullest potential.

– Rachel Moloney
Photo: Flickr

Community Healing Dialogues in Sierra Leone

Community Healing Dialogues in Sierra Leone
There are historical misunderstandings and under-investments in social care for people with mental health problems. This is even more prevalent among people living in poor countries like Sierra Leone. People in Sierra Leone do not treat mental health as seriously as other physical health disabilities. Sierra Leone has a population of more than 7 million people and there are only two psychiatrists, two clinical psychologists and 19 mental health nurses. There are also only four nurses that have specialization in child and adolescent mental health. With a clear need for psychological professional help, there has been a rise in community healing dialogues in Sierra Leone.

Mental Health in Koindu

Like many towns in Sierra Leone, Koindu struggled after the Ebola epidemic. Some say that mental disorders and anxiety affected many citizens even after the virus outbreak. Koindu citizens go through similar psychological effects as war veterans.

After experiencing stigmatization and discrimination from within their communities, many survivors of the Ebola outbreak became stressed which increased mental health problems. Koindu’s community suffered distress with only a few mental health providers and little information about psychological pain. The USAID Advancing Partners & Communities project initiated community healing dialogues (CHDs) to provide care to the people.

Community Healing Dialogues (CHDs)

Trained facilitators lead the community healing dialogues. They unite the community members together to vent their concerns and come up with ways to solve them. The success of community healing dialogues in Sierra Leone is raising awareness about serious problems affecting group members. Community members are discussing economic and livelihood challenges as a group, and creating solutions. People, who formerly discriminated against Ebola survivors, are now accepting them back into their communities.

Once a week, the CHDs gather between 15 to 18 community members to talk about and promote the mental health issues in their communities. There are at least two social workers and two nurses per district to organize and facilitate Community Healing Dialogues. More than 705 community members in 45 communities benefit from this psychosocial care. Depending on the situation, people refer some members to higher-level mental health services.

Higher-Level Program Aid

The World Health Organization (WHO) developed the mental health gap action program (mhGAP) to provide more specialized services. The program trains higher-level health care workers and medical doctors around the country. The workers and professionals use procedures within the program to identify and diagnose possible treatment options for mental disorders.

The African region is widely using mhGAP. It is pursuing professionals who may provide more specialized care at the local recommended hospitals; Kissy Psychiatric National Referral Hospital, Connaught Hospital and Ola During Children’s Hospital. The WHO is collaborating with other partners within the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to provide technical support to continue strengthening mental health services.

There is now a better understanding and acceptance of how to treat mental health within the country. Advanced care solutions along with the community healing dialogues in Sierra Leone are improving the quality of care for the people in need of help.

– Francisco Benitez
Photo: Flickr

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Dikembe Mutombo’s Impact on the DRC

Dikembe Mutombo's Impact
Dikembe Mutombo is most famous for his basketball career as a player in the NBA for 18 years and a four-time Defensive Player of the Year award recipient, but he is also well-known for his humanitarian work. Mutombo, born in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has spent the last 22 years contributing much of his time to helping his home country. Dikembe Mutombo’s impact has been significant due to creating the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Struggle With Poverty

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has faced a long history of injustice due to political corruption and economic collapse which has affected the country in a multitude of ways. Approximately 70 percent of Congolese people have little or no health care, and many hospitals and clinics lack necessary components to keep them running smoothly. Many health care facilities have shortages of personnel and equipment and frequently run out of necessary medicine and supplies.

Some of the top causes of death in the DRC include preventable or treatable conditions such as malaria, lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis and diarrheal diseases. However, in the last 12 years, child vaccinations have increased from 31 to 45 percent, and the DRC has been free of polio for over three years. Still, because 64 percent of Congolese live under the poverty line, they often have to make the choice between food and medicine.

The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation

Mutombo founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation (DMF) in 1997, in honor of his mother. Due to civil unrest, she was unable to get to the hospital for treatment and died that year.

This inspired Mutombo to create a foundation focused on primary health care, disease prevention, health policy and research and access to health care education. Its mission is to improve the health, education and quality of life for the people in the DRC.

DMF opened its first hospital in 2007, the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, named after Dikembe Mutombo’s mother. It commits to providing high-quality health care regardless of economic status. Dikembe Mutombo’s impact has allowed the hospital to treat over 30,000 patients and employ almost 400 doctors and nurses.

A future project of the foundation will be the building of a Welcome House next to the hospital. It also plans to construct an elementary school with an emphasis on science and technology outside of Kinshasa.

Mutombo on the Ebola Crisis

Mutombo and his foundation have recently joined with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to communicate with the Congolese about the Ebola crisis. Almost a year after the initial outbreak, reports mentioned 2,284 cases of infection and almost 1,500 probable deaths, making this the 10th and worst Ebola outbreak that the DRC has faced.

The CDC began posting the public service announcements to its YouTube channel and on the agency’s website on Monday in some of the native languages of the DRC, French and Swahili. In the video, Mutombo describes the early signs of Ebola, treatment, preventative measures and recommendations. Mutombo told the Associated Press, “When there’s something happening around the world, it should be a concern of everyone living on this planet, and I think the epidemic of Ebola is touching all of us.”

Mutombo’s philanthropy in his home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo will impact generations to come. Mutombo stated it best in the Ebola PSA: “I believe as a son of Congo, I think my voice can be heard. Because everyone in the country knows my commitment to humanity and health.”

– Alexia Carvajalino
Photo: Flickr

Addressing Mental Health in Sierra Leone

Mental health in Sierra LeoneSierra Leone is a West African country bordered by the North Atlantic Ocean. It is an impoverished country with almost half of the working-age population involved in subsistence agriculture. Between 1991 and 2002, Sierra Leone was subject to a civil war that resulted in more than 50,000 deaths. Sierra Leone also experienced a harsh Ebola outbreak in 2014 that outclassed all others. Its citizens are still recovering from these events, which have resulted in years of physical and emotional pain. This has left hundreds of thousands of people plagued with mental health issues in Sierra Leone.

Mental Health in Sierra Leone

The World Health Organization approximates that 10 percent of Sierra Leone citizens are facing mental health problems. This number may be even higher when taking into account cases that have not been officially reported. “[D]aily hardships and misery can turn into what scientists call “toxic stress” and trigger or amplify mental health problems” as a result of living in extreme poverty. For a long time, there was a lack of political support for mental health in Sierra Leone.

Resources are a big problem when tackling the issue of mental health in Sierra Leone. There are only “two psychiatrists, two Clinical Psychologists and 19 Mental Health Nurses” in a country of seven million people. Furthermore, only four nurses are trained to work with children with mental health issues. Due to the absence of support, many citizens seek out help from the traditional healers available.

Many individuals and organizations are working together with the goal of improving mental health in Sierra Leone. Two organizations that have made significant efforts and progress in raising awareness or providing direct aid to mental health services are the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Both WHO and MOHS have worked together on projects that have greatly improved support for mental health in Sierra Leone.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation

Most of those infected or family to those infected during the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak experienced trauma. Patients were often isolated from loved ones and surrounded by strangers. People had to cope with the death of family members and friends. Survivors of EVD beat the virus, but they still experienced toxic stress, depression, insomnia and anxiety. MOHS developed a plan for providing mental health services by improving community awareness, building demand for services and improving access to specialized healthcare workers at all levels of care.

The MOHS worked with the Advancing Partners program on a two-year project funded and managed by USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health and implemented by JSI. In Sierra Leone specifically, MOHS’s framework is being used to aid Sierra Leone’s government with the implementation of health service in post-Ebola recovery. The program is improving mental health awareness in the community, training healthcare workers with the skills to provide high-quality care and reinforcing mental health governance.

So far, MOHS and Advancing Partners have created community healing dialogue (CHD) groups. The groups help communities by providing coping mechanisms, finding resources and offering support for those with psychosocial issues. These groups are placed in areas with a large amount of EVD survivors and trained mental health staff. The CHD groups have “reached almost 700 people in 40 communities across the six districts most affected by the Ebola outbreak (Bombali, Port Loko, Kailahun, Kenema, and Western Areas Rural and Urban).”

The World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is focused on training healthcare workers in Psychological First Aid and the identification of distress. WHO developed the mental health gap action programme (mhGAP) to train community health workers and medical doctors in Sierra Leone. This way, healthcare workers will be able to more easily identify mental disorders and discover treatment options. WHO wanted to create an approach that aims to support mid-level and higher level healthcare workers to provide better tailored services.

Sierra Leone was previously a country where mental health needs were not addressed. The country continues to be impoverished since a large part of its population is unemployed. It experienced devastating losses in its 11-year-long civil war and was further distressed by the severe Ebola outbreak in 2014. The country has a large amount of people still suffering from past issues. That suffering went untreated for a long time. However, organizations like the WHO and MOHS have made considerable progress in addressing the mental health in Sierra Leone.

– Jade Thompson
Photo: Flickr