Deputy Statistician General Assures NCRA

Stats-SL has engaged representatives from the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) on the Comprehensive Health and Epidemiological Surveillance System (CHESS) Technical Committee research implementation plans.

The engagement was geared towards updating NCRA representatives about the work done so far by the CHESS Technical Committee, and informing them about the readiness of Stats SL to carry out a successful CHESS research project.

Welcoming the team from NCRA, the Statistician General & CEO of Stats SL, Andrew Bob Johnny, expressed delight at the visit. He underscored the amiable working relationship that has existed over the years between the two institutions and re-echoed his stance that this will continue for the foreseeable future.

Speaking during the engagement, the Deputy Director General of NCRA, Brima Kamara, said that “NCRA is known for showing greater and critical interest in anything that concerns the health of the Sierra Leonean population.” He also thanked Stats SL for a great job done so far. He espoused that for them, the CHESS research project is an opportunity they want to exploit, as the data gathered from the research will be of help to improve on their data base as a principal institution responsible for all National Registration processes. He concluded that NCRA looks forward to a cordial working partnership with Stats SL in the execution of the research project.

The Acting Deputy Statistician General of Stats SL, Lansana Kpewolo Kanneh welcomed the team of representatives from NCRA. He affirmed that it was a pleasure for Stats SL to receive representatives from a sister Institution like NCRA. He promised the Deputy Director General of NCRA of furthering discussions geared towards building potential working relationship with NCRA even beyond the CHESS research project.

CHESS is a new generation of population surveillance operations that hopes to provide timely delivery of high-quality data for disease-specific and pathogen-specific morbidity together with data for overall and cause-specific mortality.