AFENET Sierra Leone has received a grant to enhance AFP and other Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) surveillance through the FETP program since 2021 following an outbreak of cVDPV2 in 2020. As part of efforts to respond to this outbreak in 2020, US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) supported the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) through the African Field Epidemiology Network to complement the in-country response efforts—technical and financial support was provided to implement an enhanced AFP surveillance project in Sierra Leone. FETP graduates successfully implemented the project in ten districts from March 2021 to December 2021. A continuation was granted in October 2023, to cover 10 districts who were at risk of importation from Guinea who were responding to an outbreak.
Objectives
- Enhance AFP case detection, investigation, and notification
- Improve the timeliness of AFP case detection and investigation
- Improve key AFP surveillance performance indicators focusing on hard-to-reach areas, high-volume healthcare facilities, and border communities.
- Strengthen cross-border surveillance in the wake of virus detection in neighboring countries
- Strengthen environmental surveillance
- Improve the sample transportation process
Strategies
- Active surveillance and cross-border communication with Guinea.
- Active case search in high-volume healthcare facilities according to priority levels and report using standardized MOH/WHO reporting tools.
- Providing standard surveillance tools and other relevant documents (SOPs and Guidelines)
- Collect environmental samples to complement the human case search.
- Review the priority level of health facilities and prepare an updated list of all health facilities (public and private) with district surveillance officers.
- Conduct AFP sensitization sessions with clinicians, ensuring that they know the signs and symptoms of AFP and the appropriate reporting procedures.
- Support timely AFP case investigations, ensuring timely investigations, contact sampling is performed as needed, and stool samples are shipped with proper cold chain procedures.
- Support contact sampling for any AFP case that is inadequate.
- Support timely transportation of samples from hard to reach communities and facilities to national level.
