News

By Mustapha Sesay

The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) has expressed concern over the disagreement over the status of Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel (RBMYH). NASSIT officials are worried that it could affect the business viability of the hotel.

By Mabinty M Kamara 

3, 500 women in the Kono districts, eastern Sierra Leone, have received each the sum of Le195, 000 as part of the World Bank funded cash transfer for poor and vulnerable people. The programme is under the social safety Net (SSN) initiative which aims at alleviating extreme poverty in poor countries like Sierra Leone.

The SSN, which is also supported by UNICEF and implemented by the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), targets more than 3, 000 people are benefiting from it across the country.

By Kemo Cham

Sierra Leone stands a great chance to end the transmission of the HIV virus ahead of the UN targeted date of 2030, the country director of UNAIDS has said.

Dr Michael Frank Gboun said that all that’s needed for the country to achieve its goal is for every stakeholder to be fully involved in efforts to get people to know their status and those found positive go for treatment.

“Ending HIV/AIDS is possible. It’s not like we can’t have new infections…the point is to ensure prevention of transmission through treatment,” he said.

By Kemo Cham

Sierra Leone’s preparedness for a Zika virus outbreak has been boosted by the Chinese government with the establishment of the only lab in the country with the capability to test for the virus.

The National Reference Laboratory for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers and National Training Center for Viral Detection and Biosafety, housed within the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Biosafety Laboratory in Freetown, is just of one several health interventions announced by the Chinese government for Sierra Leone recently.

By Kemo Cham

The Ministry of Health and partners have kick-started the 2016 national Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS).

The exercise which commenced on Monday involves about 200 health workers who are moving from house to house collecting data relating to the deadly malaria disease.

By Mabinty M Kamara

The Ministry of Education has said government has agreed to meet, by the first week of July, “all the demands” of striking lecturers of polytechnics and teacher training colleges, but they will have none of it.

By Mohamed T Massaquoi

Chairman of the parliamentary oversight committee on transparency and accountability has expressed dissatisfaction over the handling of funds amounting to more than Le 1.4 billion meant for Pujehun District, and threatened some civil servants with a sack.

Claude Kamanda, MP, said the amount had not been accounted for by the ministries of agriculture, education, and gender and children’s affairs. The national library board was also named.