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Infection prevention and control (IPC) is at the heart of high-quality health care. An effective IPC programme keeps patients and health care workers safe. Global and national outbreaks, including the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic of 2020 and the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa highlight and reinforce the urgent need to strengthen health systems in Sierra Leone. IPC infrastructures, processes, practices and a supportive culture are fundamental to a strong health system.
The first national IPC guidelines of Sierra Leone were developed in 2015 by the National IPC Unit in the Directorate of Health Securities and Emergencies, MoHS with technical support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centre for Disease Control (CDC). Since 2015 a number of factors have influenced the need to review and update these guidelines including the publication in 2016 by WHO of international guidelines that set out the Core Components of IPC programmes and the development of the Government of Sierra Leone's National Strategic Plan (NAP) for combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) (2018-2022). Reducing the incidence of infection through effective sanitation, hygiene and IPC measures forms one of the strategic objectives described in the AMR NAP. In addition, multiple assessments conducted by the MoHS and partner organizations (e.g. WHO, CDC) during 2017-2019 highlighted the need to update the national guidelines to provide reference guidance on IPC best practices in different medical specialties and to include prevention and triaging of infectious diseases of epidemiological importance.
The National IPC Guidelines have been co-developed and updated by the National IPC Coordinator in collaboration with WHO and CDC, with review and approval by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.