Sierre Leone

Sierra Leone is located in West Africa with an estimated population of 7.56 million as of 2017.¹ Maternal mortality is highest in the world with 1,360 mothers dying per 100,000 live births,² and the small country has faced a history of challenges in delivering safe and accessible healthcare with 38% of the population living in urban areas.³

In 2011, while volunteering with Mercy Ships, SPECT’s founder engaged with health care workers from the West African nation and recognized a need for additional support in sterile processing technique, thus creating SPECT and beginning to develop its mission.

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¹ WDI - Home. (2020). Retrieved from http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/        

² UNICEF (2016) Making strides to address Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone. Retrieved from: https://www.unicef.org/childsurvival/sierraleone_91206.html

³ GHO | By country | Sierra Leone - statistics summary (2002 - present). (2020). Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.country.country-SLE?lang=en

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