Pilot Project on Building Capacity of Malaria Molecular Laboratory Epidemiology Network launched in Sierra Leone

The expert team from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone (SLMOHS) jointly held a kick-off meeting of the Pilot Project on Building Capacity of Malaria Molecular Laboratory Epidemiology Network in Sierra Leone at the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Laboratory on Jan 27, 2023. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project set a good example of multilateral health cooperation mechanism.

 

About 100 representatives from the SLMOHS, the China CDC, the Embassy of China in Sierra Leone, the Njala University of Sierra Leone, the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital, the World Health Organization, and the US President's Malaria Initiative attended the meeting.

The meeting was jointly hosted by Serti Kenneh, Chief Medical Officer of the SLMOHS, and Dennis Marke, DirectorD of the National Malaria Control Program, SLMOHS.

 

Shen Hongbing, Director-General of the China CDC, said in his address that the pilot project had greatly promoted the cooperation between the two countries in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, and the project is committed to strengthening the capacity building of malaria molecular epidemiology in Sierra Leone. 

Shen Hongbing, Director-General of the China CDC, delivers a speech at the kick-off meeting of the Pilot Project on Building Capacity of Malaria Molecular Laboratory Epidemiology Network in Sierra Leone on Jan 27, 2023. [Photo/chinacdc.cn] 

 

Serti Kenneth expressed sincere gratitude to the China CDC for supporting Sierra Leone in malaria prevention and control. He also hoped that the experience gained from this project could be expanded to the whole country in the future.

 

Dennis Marke briefly reported the progress of the project. The sample collection SOP certification and technical personnel training have been completed in January, 2023. According to the project requirements, sample collection and quality control will be conducted in the next few months.