HEADA SL office staff have been working in Sierra Leone since October 2020 in support of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) to build a more resilient health care system in Sierra Leone through strengthening sustainability of Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) objectives to prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats across the country.

Sixty-seven countries have signed onto the GHSA framework, including the United States, which made a strong commitment to the initial five-year period of GHSA and continues to support its strategic priorities through GHSA 2024

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plays a leading role in GHSA implementation for the United States by working directly with partner country governments to strengthen public health systems and reduce the risk of infectious disease outbreaks.

The CDC Co-Ag in Sierra Leone covers the following areas:

1. Core Global Health Security Priorities.
2. Rapid Response to Small Scale Infectious Disease Outbreaks or other Public Health Emergencies.
3. Rapid Response to Large Scale Infectious Disease Outbreaks or other Public Health Emergencies.

This is a collaborative work with CDC, CDC partners and other United States Government (USG) agencies to achieve specific goals in three main strategic areas: prevent avoidable epidemics, detect threats early, and respond rapidly and effectively to potential events of concern for public health and health security.

This efforts leverages and complements the strengths and resources of multisectoral and multilateral partners in Sierra Leone in building and improving the country’s capacity and leadership in the prevention, early detection, and provision of an effective response to infectious disease threats, with, a special emphasis on four technical areas that serve as a platform for public health emergencies and health security: surveillance, laboratory systems, workforce development, and emergency response management.

This project supports the following Healthy People 2030 goal and objectives:

1. Increase the number of public health events of international importance that are monitored and reported.
2. Increase the number of individuals trained globally to prevent, detect, or respond to public health threats.
3. Increase the laboratory diagnostic testing capacity, surveillance system, and routine reporting in countries and regionally.