Dr Keiji Fukuda, the Assistant Director General (ADG) for Health Security from the World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva arrived in Sierra Leone on 8 July 2014. The visit was part of WHO’s continued engagement with the government and partners in ending the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in the country. Dr Fukuda’s visit was also to reaffirm the Organization’s  continued commitment in coordinating and facilitating a speedy end of the outbreak.

The ADG visited together with Dr Benido Impouma, the Ebola Outbreak Coordinator from the African Regional Office. The visiting team together with the WHO Country Representative Dr Jacob Mufunda, held a series of high level meetings with the President of the Republic, H E Ernest Bai Koroma, the Minister of Health Ms Miatta Kargbo and senior officials of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation as well as the Development Partners in the capital to understand the country’s needs while underscoring the urgent need to control the outbreak. 

WHO maintains a strong presence of more than 20 international experts in Sierra Leone to respond to the Ebola outbreak . In Sierra Leone, like the other affected countries: Guninea and Liberia,  there are  more than 150 experts in the affected districts comprising of expert emergency coordinators, epidemiologists, social anthropologists, social mobilization and communications specialists, logisticians, surveillance officers among others. 

During his visit to the country, Dr Fakuda, and the Country Representative and the Ebola Outbreak Coordinator visited Kenema District to meet WHO teams working on the response in the field. “Emergencies and outbreaks are best understood when one gets direct interactions with the people working in the field”, said Dr Fukuda while addressing his team of experts from Kailahun and Kenema, the two districts worst affected by the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. The field teams briefed the visiting team on the ongoing strong collaboration between WHO and the other response partners in the affected communities, the operational structures and the critical needs and gaps in the response. 

Ebola outbreak was confirmed in Guinea in March 2014 followed by  confirmed cases in Liberia. Sierra Leone declared outbreak of the disease on 25 May 2014. As at 8 July Sierra Leone had reported a cumulative total of 279 laboratory confirmed cases with 124 confirmed death (subject to change due to case reclassifications). 

In early July  the Ministers of health and partners in the region held a two day meeting in Accra, Ghana to strategize joint regional approach to end the outbreak in the sub-region.