The United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Bryant Hunt, traveled to Bo District, in the southern province from November 1 to 3, 2023 to meet with regional leadership and elders, visit USAID supported development activities, and participate in a nationwide bed net distribution campaign.
In his meeting with regional elders, Ambassador Hunt listened to how local leaders envision the region’s path towards and opportunities for resilient development and what they see as the U.S. Government’s role to support that vision.
Ambassador Hunt visited the Bandajuma Community Health Center in Pujehun to get a first-hand understanding of United States support to the health sector. The Ambassador met with staff who explained to him how USAID’s support helped reduce maternal mortality through training, providing malaria health commodities and introducing digitizable logistical tools to reduce supply shortages. Ambassador Hunt was crowned as honorary Paramount Chief of Bandajuma.
Ambassador Hunt participated in the launch of a nationwide campaign to distribute five million treated bed nets to help protect the people of Sierra Leone from malaria. Distributions will take place across all 14 districts of the country. The campaign is being led by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Bo with support from USAID and partner Global Fund.
The United States Government through USAID provided more than a 100 million U.S. dollars to Sierra Leone over the past six years to prevent and treat malaria through the President’s Malaria Initiative. In that period, USAID delivered more than 4 million bed nets, more than 4 million rapid tests, and more than 4 million doses of fast-acting treatments.