Quality improvement in medicines regulation: a retrospective analysis of the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone before and during quality management system implementation.

Background: National Medicines Regulatory Authorities like the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone are responsible for protecting and promoting public health, implementing regulatory standards, and maintaining a supply chain with an assured supply of medical products that are safe, effective, and of good quality. This retrospective study assesses the identification of substandard and falsified medicines, the changes in the functions and key indicators of assessment, and the quality improvement changes of the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone.

Methods: Data was obtained from 2013 to 2021 records using a data collection tool to collate and review all relevant information to address the different objectives.

Assessment of self-medication practices and safety profile of medicines utilisation among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Freetown, Sierra Leone: a multicentre cross-sectional study.

Background: Despite the potential foetal and maternal risks of self-medication, studies on self-medication practice and the safety profile of medicines used during pregnancy are scarce in our setting. This study determined the self-medication practice and safety profile of medicines used among pregnant women.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in face-to-face interviews among 345 pregnant women at three hospitals in Sierra Leone.

An Assessment of Medication Errors Among Pediatric Patients in Three Hospitals in Freetown Sierra Leone: Findings and Implications for a Low-Income Country.

Background: Pediatric patients are prone to medicine-related problems like medication errors (MEs), which can potentially cause harm. Yet, this has not been studied in this population in Sierra Leone. Therefore, this study investigated the prevalence and nature of MEs, including potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs), in pediatric patients.

Designing a leadership and management training curriculum for undergraduate health professions students: Lessons from the University of Sierra Leone.

Leadership by health professionals is key in any health system, but health leadership training programmes are varied in their conceptualisation, learning objectives, and design. This paper describes an undergraduate leadership and management module for health students at the University of Sierra Leone and provides lessons from the design process. Our methods included an initial scoping review and qualitative study, followed by a co-design process of 10 workshops and 17 consultation meetings.

Establishing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program in Sierra Leone: A Report of the Experience of a Low-Income Country in West Africa.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a growing global health challenge that threatens to undo gains in human and animal health. Prevention and control of AMR requires functional antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) program, which is complex and often difficult to implement in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to describe the processes of establishing and implementing an AMS program at Connaught Hospital in Sierra Leone.

The Sierra Leone Trial to Introduce a Vaccine Against Ebola: An Evaluation of rVSV∆G-ZEBOV-GP Vaccine Tolerability and Safety During the West Africa Ebola Outbreak.

ClinicalTrials.gov [NCT02378753] and Pan African Clinical Trials Registry [PACTR201502001037220].

Rapid Establishment of a Cold Chain Capacity of -60°C or Colder for the STRIVE Ebola Vaccine Trial During the Ebola Outbreak in Sierra Leone.

ClinicalTrials.gov [NCT02378753] and Pan African Clinical Trials Registry [PACTR201502001037220].