off-site visit | July 31, 2024

Overnight Excursion to Kono and Objectives

After the symposium, a site visit to Kono District will explore how to connect research to a health service delivery and human rights organization, PIH-SL. The Wellbody Clinic at Kono is recognized as one of the best health care facilities in Sierra Leone and supported by PIH with five other rural clinics and the Koidu Government Hospital. PIH will arrange a chartered bus and accommodations will be arranged in Kono District. This is delivered through the Koidu Government Hospital, the Wellbody Clinic, governmental primary care facilities and Women’s Center in Kono District. They also focus on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. 

The site visit to Kono clinic will showcase efficiency in health praxis as conceived and exemplified by local actors in Sierra Leone, in particular Bailor Barrie and Dan Kelly, who established the Wellbody Clinic. One intended outcome is that participants will use this experience to contextualize discussions from the symposium sessions, on factors that contribute to fragmentation, the impact on efficiency of systems and sustainability of interventions, and persistent barriers to achieving sustainable improvements in health system performance. Importantly, the clinic visit brings an often missing element in the research community, which is seeing the direct relationship between the discoveries in the lab and the impact at the clinic level. 

During this field visit, the topic of Western scientists often taking advantage of, and using African research, data, cohorts and information without giving credit, or often finances, will be addressed. Through the discussions and analyses, participants will be able to identify opportunities to work on together; and also, gather lessons learned for pandemic response plans, both current and future. Finally, the results of the symposium, Kono visit and discussion following all the activities will be distinctively educational and add to knowledge, perspective and plans that the visitors will bring back to their labs and institutions. 

Furthermore, as a result of the overall event, the organizers will draft a white paper to be co-authored by all participants with the objective of enhancing the approach to science and relationships between Westerners and Africans which does not abuse the available data, cohorts and information.