Sierra Leone – MOHS RRI 100-Day Project: Maternal and Child Health

In December 2019, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) in Sierra Leone launched a program to pilot ​innovative approaches to improve service delivery and service uptake in facilities. This was part of Sierra Leone’s longer-term strategic objective to reduce the rate of maternal and child deaths by 45% and 55% respectively by 2021.  As part of this program, a series of 100 Day Challenges were funded by the World Bank, with support provided to MOHS by the Rapid Results Institute (RRI). 
 
The idea behind these Challenges was to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve dramatic and sustainable impact on essential maternal and child health care service delivery indicators in a very short timeframe.  Two cycles of 100 Day Challenges were completed during a 12-month programme across six clinics and two hospitals in two districts. 

Despite the COVID pandemic starting during the Challenge, there were impressive results seen across the Challenge, with some goals exceeded including reductions in drop-out rates from attendance at ante-natal Clinics, reduction in still-births and increase in sustained attendance at ante-natal clinics.  Alongside the evidence of quantifiable progress towards goals, the report also outlines the many innovations that were tried, tested and adopted as a result of the Challenge, and the lessons learnt throughout the process.