Highlights
In the week to 3 May 2015, weekly case incidence decreased to nine, down from eleven the previous week. Seven of the cases this week came from quarantined households or known contacts.
Results from the country’s first Maternal and Child Health Week (24-27 April 2015) since the start of the Ebola emergency indicated 98.5 percent coverage for vitamin A and 96 percent coverage for albendazole for deworming. Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) assessments for children 6-11 months found 2.1 percent were severely malnourished, while for children 12-59 months, 0.6 percent were severely malnourished. Vaccinations for defaulting children 0-23 months were also administered, with 21,929 children receiving pentavalent injections against diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP), hepatitis B, and Haemophilius influenzae type b, and 15,020 defaulting children receiving routine measles vaccinations.
Around 1.8 million learning kits supplied by UNICEF will be distributed in the coming week to school children across the country to boost the delayed academic year, which began on 14 April 2015. The kits include 7.4 million exercise books, and 4.4 million pens and pencils.
126,000 people in vulnerable households, including Ebola survivors, will benefit from a new cash transfer scheme launched on 4 May 2015 by President HE Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, in partnership with the World Bank and UNICEF.
UNICEF Sierra Leone requires USD 178 million for its response to the Ebola crisis until end of June 2015. To date, USD 118.9 million has been received – 67 percent of the total*.
