From Freetown to Kono and from Makeni to Kenema, the Government of Sierra Leone, through its Ministry of Health, on Monday launched a bold national healthcare campaign: 300 day activism to end preventable maternal and child deaths, an effort that aligns with the country’s commitment to promote healthier lives for mothers and babies.
Through this campaign, the government pledges to spend the next 300 days to work collectively to achieve what the Triple Zeros–zero preventable maternal deaths, zero preventable child deaths, zero zero dose children—a national benchmark against which success should be measured.
In the last decade or so, Sierra Leone has drastically reduced maternal deaths by over 70% much to the admiration of the international community. This progress demonstrates that focused leadership, targeted and delibrate investments in women’s health, system reform, and strategic implementation of key programmes can deliver results. Yet, preventable maternal deaths still persist, and these deaths increasingly reflect operational failures rather than policy gaps.
“Where women do not receive timely antenatal care, skilled delivery at birth, emergency obstetric care, blood transfusion, or postpartum (bleeding after birth) follow-ups, the consequences are dire and they extend way beyond maternal survival,” the Minister said while delivering his keynote statement.
Newborn deaths, missed immunisation, childhood illness, and under-nutrition, Dr. Demby said, are the downstream effects of the same system breakdowns. The 300 Days of Activism is therefore designed to correct these operational failures that continue to place women at risk during pregnancy, childbirth, children at risk of dying from preventable causes including failed immunization services.
Launched by President Bio himself at the recently concluded 39th Africa Union Summit in the Ethiopian capital—Addis Ababa, this initiative will operate under a disciplined delivery rhythm, using weekly huddles and national scorecards to identify and resolve failures in antenatal care continuity, skilled delivery readiness, emergency response, blood availability, and postpartum follow-ups; among other interventions.
At the end of the 300 days, the Minister said, “facilities would have reached minimum readiness for safe pregnancy and childbirth, delivery rooms and theatres will function optimally with essential equipment, life-saving commodities, reliable water and power, and trained staff.”
Dr. Demby said that referral readiness will be monitored through logs and response times, ensuring that women with complications are stabilised and transferred without delay. Part of the strategy is also to ensure that maternal health indicators are tracked weekly and reported quarterly, reducing implementation risk and strengthening public accountability.
Child health improvements, including newborn survival and immunisation, will occur as outcomes of a functioning system.
“Every mother who survives childbirth, every child who receives vaccination, and every family that is spared the grief of losing a loved one counts as a step toward Sierra Leone’s broader aspiration of achieving universal health coverage,” Dr. Demby points out.
The government recognizes that issues like early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and sanitation are intertwined with maternal and child health. The campaign explicitly calls for cross-sector collaboration and the understanding that maternal and child health outcomes are largely shaped by education, infrastructure, and social norms.
Community voices have also been brought into focus. Pregnant women like Saccoh, who attended the launch, spoke of the tangible improvements in healthcare services. Saccoh praised the healthcare system, urging fellow pregnant women to seek hospital care instead of opting for traditional medicines and giving birth at home. Her story symbolizes the human aspect of this campaign—real people, real lives, real hope.
In more ways than one, Sierra Leone’s 300 days of activism is a litmus test of how resource constrained but committed countries can actually translate global healthcare targets into local actions. It’s a reminder that behind every statistic is a person, a family, and a community. With this activism, the country’s goals are clear: preventable maternal and child deaths are unacceptable.