By: Mamajah Jalloh
The Ministry of Health, through its Directorate of Environmental Health, has trained 124 fumigation officers and supervisors nationwide as part of efforts to strengthen infection prevention and control in hospitals and support the 300 Days of Activism campaign.
The training, held on Friday, September 11, 2026, was conducted under the theme “Clean Hospitals for Safer Care.”
The Ministry has embarked on a nationwide pest and disease control exercise targeting government hospitals across the country.
The trained fumigation officers and supervisors will be deployed to various health facilities, where they will work with hospital management to identify areas requiring disinfection and ensure that appropriate safety measures are observed before, during and after the exercise.
Addressing the newly trained officers, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Mustapha Kabba, urged them to demonstrate professionalism by prioritizing patient safety and carrying out their duties in the best interest of patients.
“Fumigation is far more than a routine practice,” Dr. Kabba stated.
He explained that fumigation, together with proper healthcare waste management and environmental sanitation, forms part of the daily measures required to keep hospitals free from infections that can put mothers, newborns and healthcare workers at risk.
Dr. Kabba noted that data from the country’s flagship healthcare campaign, the 300 Days of Activism, indicate that sepsis, a life-threatening condition caused by infection, remains one of the leading causes of maternal and child deaths.
He said the national fumigation exercise, which covers vector, pest and disease control, will complement hospital cleaning activities and improved infection prevention and control measures aimed at reducing the burden of sepsis.
Dr. Kabba stressed that the work of the fumigation officers is particularly important because maintaining clean and disease-free healthcare facilities is essential to preventing avoidable maternal and child deaths.
He added that every fumigation exercise, properly managed waste bin and disinfected ward represents a step towards achieving the country’s Triple Zero targets.