Minister Demby Takes Sierra Leone’s ‘Triple Zeros’ Health Campaign to UNGA81
Sia Lucy Kannah Sierra Leone’s Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby, has represented the country at the Global Leaders Network (GLN) Financial Diplomacy Series, a high-level ministerial working session held as a side event of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81) in New York.
The session focused on translating national healthcare priorities into sustainable financing and investment strategies, with Minister Demby highlighting Sierra Leone’s campaign to eliminate preventable maternal and child deaths.
The meeting, co-hosted by the Global Leaders Network (GLN), the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), and CGHD/WHEN, brought together Ministers of Health and Finance from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya and South Africa, alongside development finance institutions, philanthropic organisations and international partners from South Korea, Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
Demby highlighted Sierra Leone’s “300 Days of Activism for Triple Zeros” campaign, which focuses on achieving zero preventable maternal deaths, zero preventable child deaths and zero-dose children.
He said Sierra Leone is working to move from aid dependency towards results-based investment in the health sector.
According to Demby, the Ministry of Health is using real-time, location-based data to track pregnancies and help ensure that mothers and babies are reached with life-saving healthcare services while allowing health outcomes to be measured.
“We are not just asking for investment. We are showing the return on that investment in the lives we save,” Demby said.
The discussions also examined health financing, local manufacturing of vaccines and essential medical commodities, strengthening the health workforce, and transitioning to clean energy to improve the delivery and resilience of health services.
The session formed part of broader discussions on mobilising sustainable financing and strengthening health systems in participating countries.