The Ebola outbreak and staffing in public health facilities in rural Sierra Leone: who is left to do the job?
Concludes post-Ebola health-related human resource deficit is alarmingly high, with very few staff available
Abstract
Setting
The 82 public health facilities of rural Kailahun District, Sierra Leone.
Objective
The 2014–2015 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Sierra Leone led the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and stakeholders to set minimum standards of staffing (medical/non-medical) for a basic package of essential health services (BPEHS). No district-level information exists on staffing levels in relation to the Ebola outbreak. The authors examined the staffing levels before the Ebola outbreak, during the last month of the outbreak and 4 months after the outbreak, as well as Ebola-related deaths among health care workers (HCWs).
Design
This was a retrospective cross-sectional study.
Conclusion
The post-Ebola health-related human resource deficit is alarmingly high, with very few staff available to work. We call for urgent political will, resources and international collaboration to address this situation.
This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union
Citation
Sylvester Squire J, Hann K, Denisiuk O, Kamara M, Tamang D, Zachariah R. The Ebola outbreak and staffing in public health facilities in rural Sierra Leone: who is left to do the job? Public Health Action. 2017;7(1):47–54.