History of Masanga UK
A brief history
Masanga Hospital is a rural hospital with 120 beds situated in the centre of Sierra Leone, West Africa. Sierra Leone has suffered greatly from the relatively recent civil war and the 2014-2016 outbreak of Ebola virus. This is reflected in the country’s healthcare service, which has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world and has large and unmet medical and surgical needs.
Approximately 440,000 people depend on Masanga Hospital for their healthcare. We provide emergency surgical, obstetric and paediatric care, as well as general healthcare for 12, 000 patients per year. This number is increasing annually.
Masanga Hospital started as a Leprosy Hospital in the 1960s and during the civil war between 1991 and 2002, the hospital was used as a base by rebel fighters. It was eventually forced to close in 1997. In the face of this, the people of Masanga village kept their hope and continued to maintain the hospital grounds.
After the war in 2006, the deserted hospital was rejuvenated by a Euro-Salonean partnership and the result is a hospital providing essential healthcare to a under-resourced population
Where we are today
Masanga UK helps to support Masanga Hospital by providing volunteer doctors and nurses from the UK to help train Sierra Leonean Community Health Officers and nurses.
Volunteers support the daily clinical activities of the hospital as well as proving structured teaching and training.
Masanaga UK was heavily involved with supporting the hospital and community during the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic. Funds were raised to to build a 10 bed isolation unit as well as creating the Masanga Mentor Initiative which saw the introduction of a tablet base simulation programme used to teach communities about infection prevention control.
Masanga UK is proud to be training students from Makeni School of Clinical Sciences to become specialised in Internal Medicine. This is a long term project with the aim to sustainably increase the Sierra Leonean healthcare workforce.