Samuel Kargbo, better known as Dr SAS, is credited with helping turn the tide of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. He realized that local tribal burial practices led to spreading of Ebola after an infected person had died, and so he brokered a compromise between health professionals and tribal elders. He tried village leaders in safe burial practices and enabled them to provide a modified form of the usual rituals for the dead.
Dr. Samuel Kargbo is the director of Health Systems, Policy, Planning and Information in the in Ministry of Health & Sanitation of Sierra Leone. His present responsibility is to oversee the planning and monitoring the implementation of the post Ebola recovery strategy and building of a resilient health system. Dr. Kargbo has championed free health care in Sierra Leone, introduced policies and strategies to improve maternal and child health services and by extension, the citizenry of the country.