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Liberia Media Centre

Améliorer l'accès à l'oxygène médical au Libéria

Le manque d'accès continu à l'oxygène au Libéria a contribué à des décès évitables, un problème aggravé par la pandémie de COVID-19, lorsque la demande en oxygène médical a dépassé la capacité du pays. 

Pour trouver une solution à ce déficit, en 2022, les autorités sanitaires du pays, avec le financement de l'Union européenne, de l'USAID et du gouvernement allemand, et l’appui de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS), ont installé deux nouvelles usines d'oxygène à adsorption par inversion de pression de nouvelle génération. 

L'une d'entre elles se trouve à la Star Base sur l'île de Bushrod à Monrovia et l'autre à l'hôpital gouvernemental du Libéria dans le comté de Bomi. Le pourcentage de centres de santé et d'hôpitaux fournissant de l'oxygène médical à l'échelle nationale est ainsi passé de 51 % en 2021 à 67 % en 2023.

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Liberia scales up access to life-saving medical oxygen

A lack of uninterrupted access to oxygen in Liberia has contributed to preventable deaths, a problem amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand for medical oxygen surpassed the country’s capacity.

In a bid to address this deficit, in 2022, local health authorities, with funding from the European Union, USAID and the German government, and support from World Health Organization (WHO), established two new state-of-the-art pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants.

One plant is at the Star Base on Bushrod Island in Monrovia, and the other at Liberia Government Hospital in Bomi County. 

This has seen the percentage of health centres and hospitals providing medical oxygen nationwide increase from 51% in 2021 to 67% in 2023.

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World Blood Donor Day 2024 – 20 years of celebrating giving: thank you blood donors!

Today, 14 June, is World Blood Donor Day, with the theme “20 years of celebrating giving: thank you blood donors!”

Thank you to blood donors like Alpha Tamba, who has been donating blood for over 20 years.

Tamba’s blood donation journey began in 2002, as a refugee residing in Kountaya camp in Guinea during the civil war in his home country Liberia, where he witnessed the devastating consequences of blood shortages.

Ever since, he has been a regular blood donor.

Alpha’s message is clear: blood donation is an act of love, kindness and sharing life.

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Journée mondiale du donneur de sang 2024 - 20 ans de générosité : merci aux donneurs de sang !

Journée mondiale du donneur de sang 2024 - 20 ans de générosité : merci aux donneurs de sang !

Aujourd'hui, 14 juin, c'est la Journée mondiale du donneur de sang placée sous le thème « 20 ans de célébration du don de sang : merci à tous les donneurs de sang ! »

Merci aux donneurs de sang comme Alpha Tamba, qui fait ce geste depuis plus de 20 ans.

Alpha Tamba a commencé à donner de son sang en 2002, alors qu'il était réfugié dans le camp de Kountaya en Guinée, durant la guerre civile dans son pays natal, le Libéria, où il a été témoin des conséquences dévastatrices des pénuries de sang.

Il est depuis devenu un donneur régulier. Le message d'Alpha est clair : le don de sang est un acte d'amour, de bonté et de partage de la vie.

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Ebola outbreak response and needs by Dr Nestor NDAYIMIRIJE

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Dr Nestor NDAYIMIRIJE, WHO Representative in Liberia, speaks about the Ebola outbreak here and in neighbouring countries, and WHO’s effort to support the response. Photographs taken in July 2014 in this area illustrate his statement (Photo credits: WHO and Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare).

Testimony of Saah Tamba, Ebola survivor in Liberia

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This testimony was recorded in Liberia on 17 July 2014 at Foya district's treatment centre. Saah Tamba from Lofa’s capital Voinjama lost five members of his family describes the ordeal he went through when he was sick of Ebola which he contracted from his uncle – the body pains, the chills due to high fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. He immediately went to the clinic and health staff brought him to the treatment centre in Foya. “When I got sick, my family doubted my recovery. The doctors who treated me gave me certificate that indicates I am free of Ebola, if anyone would still doubt. I am now free to go home, I am well and I am happy.”

For health systems fighting the Ebola outbreak, it is important to identify survivors in order to record their experiences and support community awareness efforts by sharing their ordeals and how they managed to survive Ebola. It indeed helps to alleviate some resistance, panic, denial, and misconceptions that local populations often have about this disease.

Testimony of Harrison Sakila, Ebola survivor in Liberia

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This testimony was recorded in Liberia on 17 July 2014 at Foya district's treatment centre. Harrison recounts that he contracted Ebola when he assisted her sick mother. A week after her death, he too got sick. Health staff of Samaritan’s Purse saw him and took him to the treatment centre. “I didn’t refuse, I joined them, they tested me – it was positive. They took me to the area of the treatment centre for confirmed cases. After one week, they came for my blood test, it was negative. I came out. I am alright.”

For health systems fighting the Ebola outbreak, it is important to identify survivors in order to record their experiences and support community awareness efforts by sharing their ordeals and how they managed to survive Ebola. It indeed helps to alleviate some resistance, panic, denial, and misconceptions that local populations often have about this disease.

WHO: Cuban Health Workers in Liberia

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As of 22 October 2014, a delegation of 53 Cuban health workers arrived in Liberia to help fight the Ebola outbreak. The Cuban team consists of nurses, doctors, epidemiologists and intensive care specialists. Having received an initial Ebola training in Cuba, all team members received a second training in Liberia on how to work in an Ebola treatment unit. 

Being one of the first foreign medical teams to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, the Cuban delegation will stay in the country for 6 months. They will work in shifts in smaller teams mainly in the newly opened Ebola treatment unit located at the former Ministry of Defence compound in Monrovia.