Sierra Leone intensifies nutrition awareness with media engagement

June 11, 2015 - Last update: February 10, 2023

Photo source: Africa Young Voices

On 9th June 2015, the SUN Movement Secretariat in Sierra Leone engaged with media to present a comprehensive plan of how it intends to tackle malnutrition in the country. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President, Harrett Turay. She told journalists that prior to the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease, majority of the people in Sierra Leone were diagnosed with malnutrition and stunted growth was prevalent among children. She noted that while there have been improvements, more needed to be done to end the condition as it leaves the community vulnerable to various forms of diseases.

“When you are malnourished, your immunity will be affected.. One of the main strategies used in the fight against malnutrition is media engagement.” – Harrett Turay, Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President

Mohamed Foh Sun, SUN Coordinator in the Office of the Vice-President, gave an overview of the SUN Movement and highlighted key actions that were necessary to address malnutrition. This included increased nutrition capacity within Ministries of Health and Agriculture, improving infant and young child feeding through effective education and counselling services, promoting home production of diverse foods, and development of the market and infrastructure.

Aminata Koroma, the National Director of Food and Nutrition in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, presented the country’s National Food, Nutrition and Implementation Plan (2009) as the blueprint to achieving the goal. The plan, whose implementation was interrupted by the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic, has been expanded to 2017. The plan includes employing a communication strategy that will bring on board religious leaders.