Universal Health Coverage Partnership
A country-level resource for
Sierra Leone is a West African country with a population of 6 million people and a life expectancy at birth of 45 years (male) and 46 years (female). A debilitating 11-year-long civil war ended in 2002, leaving the country’s health system much weakened. The government announced the Free Health Care Initiative in 2010. In 2014 however, Sierra Leone was one of the three countries most affected by the Ebola virus outbreak, with a total number of 3,799 reported deaths (WHO, March 2015), prompting the country to recognize and emphasize the role of communities in promoting health. The UHC Partnership initially supported integrating Ebola recovery plans into the national health policy framework, as the country developed a Basic Package of Essential Health Services 2015-2020 and a Health Sector Recovery Plan 2015-2020. The partnership has then shifted its support towards the development, implementation and monitoring of the National Health Sector Strategic Plan 2017-2021 as well as the establishment of Sierra Leone’s Social Health Insurance scheme. You can access important country documents by clicking here.
| Key indicators: Sierra Leone | |
|---|---|
| WHO region | Africa |
| Child health | |
| Diphtheria tetanus toxoid and pertussis (DTP3) immunization coverage among 1-year-olds (%) (2019) | 95 |
| Demographic and socioeconomic statistics | |
| Poverty headcount ratio at $1.25 a day (PPP) (% of population) (2011) | 51.7 |
| Gender inequality index rank (2014) | 145 |
| Human development index rank (2014) | 181 |
| Health financing | |
| Total expenditure on health as a percentage of gross domestic product (2014) | 11.09 (Sierra Leone note) |
| Private expenditure on health as a percentage of total expenditure on health (2014) | 83.01 (Sierra Leone note) |
| General government expenditure on health as a percentage of total government expenditure (2014) | 10.84 (Sierra Leone note) |
| Health systems | |
| Physicians density (per 1000 population) (2010) | 0.024 |
| Nursing and midwifery personnel density (per 1000 population) (2010) | 0.319 |
| Mortality and global health estimates | |
| Neonatal mortality rate (per 1000 live births) (2018) | 32.8 (Both sexes) |
| Under-five mortality rate (probability of dying by age 5 per 1000 live births) (2018) | 105.1 (Both sexes) |
| 98.8 (Female) | |
| 110.9 (Male) | |
| Maternal mortality ratio (per 100 000 live births) (2017) | 1 120 [ 808 - 1 620 ] |
| Sustainable development goals | |
| Life expectancy at birth (years) (2016) | 52.5 (Male) |
| 53.8 (Female) | |
| 53.1 (Both sexes) | |
| Births attended by skilled health personnel (%) (2019) | 87 |
| World Health Statistics | |
| Population (in thousands) total (2016) | 7396 |
| Population proportion under 15 (%) (2016) | 42.4 |
| Population proportion over 60 (%) (2016) | 0.9 |
| Literacy rate among adults aged >= 15 years (%) (2007-2012) | 43 |
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