Dr. Kabba Presents Sierra Leone’s NSOAP

The 3rd Pan-African Surgical Healthcare Forum (PASHeF) 2025 started on Wednesday, 5th November 2025, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and continued till 7th November 2025.

Representing Sierra Leone, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer – Clinical Services, Dr. Med. Mustapha S. Kabba, led the delegation from the Ministry of Health.

During the opening session, Dr. Kabba presented Sierra Leone’s newly concluded National Surgical, Obstetric and Anesthesia Plan (NSOAP) — a landmark document launched last week at Tokeh Resort by the Honourable Minister of Health and the Ministry’s senior leadership.

In his presentation, Dr. Kabba highlighted Sierra Leone’s progress and achievements in developing the NSOAP, noting the following key points:

• He expressed delight to be part of the 3rd PASHeF, recognizing familiar faces and the collective commitment across Africa to improving surgical care.
• He recalled that during the 2nd PASHeF, countries pledged to develop their own NSOAPs, and Sierra Leone has now proudly fulfilled that commitment.
• He emphasized that the NSOAP provides a strategic framework to embed safe surgical practices in the national health system.
• The plan was developed through national collaboration and international partnerships involving Mercy Ships, WHO, CapeCare, and other technical experts, including Dr. Walt Johnson, through online consultations.
• The NSOAP was launched with strong political and institutional backing, evidenced by the presence of the Honourable Minister of Health, Deputy Minister II, and the Chief Medical Officer at the launch.
• The plan aligns with existing health policy documents and aims to strengthen the surgical workforce, infrastructure, financing, and governance for better health outcomes.

Dr. Kabba also shared key statistics underscoring the urgency of this initiative:

• 1 in 4 Sierra Leoneans live with a condition requiring surgical intervention.
• 25% of deaths could have been prevented with timely surgical care.
• High surgical needs remain unmet.
• Families face high out of pocket expenditure when accessing surgical care.

He reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to ensuring that no Sierra Leonean faces economic hardship when seeking surgical care. The NSOAP sets clear targets, including achieving 5 surgical providers per 1,000 population, and also increase the total surgical workforce density to 10 per 100,000 people, alongside retention and professional development strategies to reduce disparities between rural and urban areas.

All 53 African countries present at PASHeF 2025 commended Sierra Leone for taking this bold step towards transforming surgical care and demonstrating strong national leadership in advancing safe, timely, and affordable surgery

The forum continued with presentations from other African nations, focusing on strengthening surgical systems across the continent.

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