US-Funded Epic Programme Expands Community Healthcare Across Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is strengthening its ability to detect and respond to disease outbreaks in remote communities through support from the U.S.-funded Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) programme, which is expanding access to essential healthcare across the country.
In Kailahun, Falaba and Pujehun districts, EpiC is equipping community health workers to diagnose and treat malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea, bringing essential care closer to children and families in hard-to-reach communities where distance and poor road conditions can limit access to health facilities.
Implemented by Population Services International (PSI) in partnership with the Government of Sierra Leone, the programme has compensated 1,450 community health workers and peer supervisors while strengthening mentorship, supervision, training and transportation support.
EpiC has also worked with the National Public Health Agency, the One Health Secretariat and other partners to strengthen zoonotic disease surveillance and integrate wildlife health monitoring systems.
The programme supports Sierra Leone’s existing community health worker framework and the Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) strategy, under which trained health workers assess and treat children for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea at household level, while referring severe cases to primary health units. The approach is intended to reduce delays in accessing care and ease pressure on health facilities.
The initiative also builds on previous community-based surveillance efforts. A 2024 assessment found that alerts recorded through community-based surveillance corresponded with diseases reported through facility-based systems, highlighting the potential of community health workers to strengthen early disease detection.
Through these interventions, EpiC is supporting Sierra Leone’s efforts to build a more resilient and integrated health system capable of sustaining epidemic control and expanding access to essential healthcare in underserved communities.