On March 14, 2024, U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Bryan David Hunt, visited Sierra Leone’s very first, fully-functional Vector-Borne Disease Insectary and Laboratory (VBDIL) in Makeni, Southern Sierra Leone. During the tour of the facility, Ambassador Hunt learned about how Sierra Leonean scientists are working to test the resistance of Anopheles mosquitoes to insecticides.
The facility is equipped to assess the effectiveness of potential vector control interventions and to help the Government make strategic programmatic decisions – like where and when to conduct indoor residual spraying or deploy new types of insecticide-treated nets. With the VBDIL in place, Sierra Leone now undertakes most of its insect related studies and research activities without having to rely on data from other countries.
The U.S. The President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) worked in collaboration with Sierra Leone’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and the Neglected Tropical Diseases Program to establish the VBDIL.