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The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Sierra Leone has held discussions with Mr. Feng Kai, Lead for Public Health and Foreign Aid Cooperation at the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone, to strengthen collaboration in maternal, newborn and reproductive health services.
The meeting focused on advancing cooperation under UNFPA’s 8th Country Programme for Sierra Leone, covering the period 2025–2030, while building on the longstanding South-South Cooperation between UNFPA and China.
Through the partnership, support has been provided to strengthen maternal and newborn health services in nine health facilities. The collaboration has also contributed to the development of a policy framework and technical guidelines for cervical cancer management.
According to UNFPA, more than 6,500 women have so far benefited from cervical cancer screening through these interventions.
The discussions further explored opportunities to scale up cervical cancer prevention and introduce HPV DNA testing within Sierra Leone’s public health sector, which could strengthen early detection and prevention efforts.
UNFPA and the Chinese Embassy also discussed strengthening national midwifery education to improve the capacity of healthcare professionals providing maternal and newborn services.
Another area of discussion was the potential use of telemedicine to optimise specialised healthcare services across public health facilities, particularly by improving access to expertise and specialised care where such services may not be readily available.
The engagement underscores the continued efforts by UNFPA and China to support Sierra Leone’s health sector through capacity building, technology and strengthened reproductive and maternal healthcare systems.
