Ready to Launch

This week’s Fist Bump goes to VL Sierra Leone for the success in completing their first IRS Boot Camp and Capacity Building workshop in preparation for the country’s first large-scale IRS campaign in April.

The five-day training, which was held in February, was led by VL Regional Vector Control Manager Ernest Fletcher and VL Sierra Leone COP Evelyne Alyko with technical support from VL SL Operations Manager Alie V-Tarawally, M&E Manager Eddie Vamboi, and EC Officer Aminata Thullah.

The Capacity Building workshop was designed for IRS Managers and Master Trainers from the national and district levels. The workshop provided the knowledge, skills, and tools required to plan for, train, implement, supervise, and monitor a high-quality IRS campaign. Participants at the training included the VL Sierra Leone team, the NMCP, Directorate of Environmental Health, Environment Protection Agency, District Officials, as well as the PMI Mission team. During the training, participants were taught the critical factors leading to the successful implementation of an IRS campaign.

VectorLink Sierra Leone is working with the NMCP to develop districts’ spray schedules for the IRS campaign in April, taking into consideration all environmental and operational requirements in each selected district. The Boot Camp training included information on entomology for vector control, gender inclusiveness & IRS, needs assessments and quantification, IRS application equipment, training techniques, insecticide mixing, spray techniques, household preparation, environmental compliance, community mobilization, spray calendar development, supervision, monitoring and evaluation, and end-of-day clean-up. will be applied during the upcoming training and IRS campaign for successful implementation. The training took place in a well-ventilated open-air venue and followed COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Congratulations, VL Sierra Leone, and good luck with your first IRS campaign!