Liberia News

Late one night, 44-year-old Irene Mabande’s four-year-old daughter Emerald suffered a severe asthma attack at home in Tubmanburg, the capital of Bomi County in the northwest of Liberia. “She was striving for air. She couldn’t breathe on her own,” Mabande recalls. “In the hospital, they don’t have a nebulizer for asthmatic patients, so the only thing that could bring her back was oxygen.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in partnership with the government of Liberia have successfully concluded a week-long scooping mission aimed at enhancing the country’s capacity to health security preparedness and response.

Monitoring and tracking of health system expenditure is an essential component of universal health coverage. The National Health Accounts (NHA) is an internationally recognized method for monitoring and tracking health system expenditure over a specific period, usually a year.

Alpha 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. 

In a concerted effort to combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and enhance public health in Liberia, the World Health Organization (WHO) has donated a consignment of Albendazole and Praziquantel tablets to the Ministry of Health to be used for the prevention and treatment of Lymphatic Filariasis, Soil Transmitted Helminths, and Schistosomiasis, targeting more than 2 million people in endemic counties through Mass Drug Administration campaigns.

The Ministry of Health in collaboration with partners has commenced a four-day nationwide polio vaccination campaign, which begins on May 10, 2024, with the aim of responding to an outbreak of the circulating vaccine-derived polio virus type 2. This crucial campaign is conducted concurrently with Sierra Leone, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. The cross-border initiative aims to immunize all eligible children, including those crossing national boundaries.

The United Nations (H6) joint mission has concluded its visit to Liberia, highlighting the urgent need for action to combat the high burden of increasing maternal and newborn deaths in the country. The delegation revealed that 1,100 women and 8,510 newborn die annually during childbirth in Liberia.

The Liberia Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded a week-long laboratory system and genomic surveillance situation analysis and developed an action plan as part of a one-year project to be implemented as a contribution to establishing genomic sequencing capacity in Liberia for epidemic prone priority pathogens beyond COVID-19.

Liberia marks a monumental milestone in its battle against malaria as it launches the highly anticipated RTS,S malaria vaccine today, coinciding with World Malaria Day, commemorated under the theme: Health Equity, Gender, and Human Rights: Accelerating the Fight Against Malaria for a More Equitable World. The launch ceremony, held in Rivercess County, signals a significant step forward in the nation's commitment to safeguarding the health of its children and communities.