At Connaught Teaching Hospital in Freetown, Dr. Alieu Kamara successfully removed a brain tumor, a meningioma, from a patient in his care. It is the first procedure of its kind performed by a Sierra Leonean neurosurgeon in the country's history.
Dr. Kamara is Sierra Leone's first and only neurosurgeon. He launched the country's first neurosurgery program at Connaught in January 2025, taking on the neurosurgical needs of a nation of eight million people. The program performed Sierra Leone's first spine surgeries in May 2025. This operation extends that work into brain tumor care.
Why one surgery matters
Meningiomas are among the most common brain tumors, and many are treatable with surgery. Until now, a patient in Sierra Leone facing that diagnosis had to seek care abroad or go without treatment. Most went without.
This procedure was performed by a Sierra Leonean surgeon, at a Sierra Leonean public hospital, for a patient treated in their own country. That is the outcome mission:BRAIN works toward everywhere: care that patients can reach within their own communities, delivered and led by local teams.
Built on years of partnership
The surgery is one step in a longer effort at Connaught, a program mission:BRAIN has supported since 2023. Twenty-four nurses have completed certification in neurotrauma patient management and are now training the next group. The hospital complex established the Sababu fund to help patients who cannot afford care. Research is part of the same effort: a peer-reviewed study of five years of records at Connaught is helping define the country's neurological disease burden.
The constraints remain real. Connaught's surgical ward has two operating rooms shared by every specialty, and advanced imaging is limited. Each milestone is reached inside those constraints, which makes the progress more meaningful, not less.
What comes next
The neurosurgery service at Connaught continues to grow its caseload and its team. The Sierra Leone mission:BRAIN Chapter continues building the infrastructure for sustainable, locally led neurosurgical care: trained nurses, funded patients, published research, and now a widening range of procedures.
Congratulations to Dr. Kamara and the entire Connaught team. A meaningful step forward for neurosurgery in Sierra Leone, and for the patients who no longer have to leave home to receive it.
