Liberia News

When Dr Peter Clements arrived in Lofa County, Liberia eight weeks ago, from the WHO country office in Monrovia, 20-30 patients were arriving at the MSF hospital with Ebola-like symptoms every day. People living in the community were afraid, civil unrest was simmering, and an ambulance and health workers were being targeted. read the full story

Monrovia, 9 April 2015 - World Health Day was celebrated in Liberia under the theme ‘Food Safety’, keeping food safe from the farm to the plate. A week-long awareness and sensitization campaign on food safety was conducted in market places, schools and various communities. These activities were targeted at creating awareness and educating the public on the importance of keeping food safe and the dangers of consuming unsafe food.

“When the outbreak first started in March and we heard about this deadly virus Ebola, I was in Kakata,” says Austin S. Jallah, a student nurse of Kakata University, in Margibi County, Liberia.

“People really doubted the fact that Ebola was real, until we heard about the first case in the hospital. I wasn’t one of those who doubted though. Because I am a student nurse, I had read about the Ebola virus before, how it was first discovered back in 1976.”

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Around 150 local construction workers have been working 3 shifts a day to build an Ebola treatment centre at the former Ministry of Defence compound on the outskirts of Monrovia.

The 6 large tents, that can house 50 patients each, are now in place and the centre is set to open at the end of October. This will add at least 200 additional beds for Ebola patients in Liberia.

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Monrovia, 20 March 2015 - To curb reemergence of unsafe burial practices, the Mandingo Community, (one of the tribes in Liberia) through its leaders has held community consultation dialogue to seek consensus on accommodating community needs while reducing risk of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) transmission. One solution sought was the training of select members of the community to conduct safe burials. The burial team would comprise of six community volunteers, a mix of women and men, and an Imam (a worship leader of the mosque).

Her Excellency, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf launched the “No new cases campaign” in New Georgia Community, Montserrado County, Monrovia, Liberia. 08/12/14

President Sirleaf and entourage entered the Christ Kingdom Harvest Church, where the program was held. At the far end, the President was washing her hands in 0,05% chlorine solution. 
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Only people who have been sick with Ebola virus disease and recovered from this traumatic experience can explain what it was like and what their needs were during the illness. That is why a group of 6 Ebola survivors were asked to play a critical role in a new training programme for health workers on Ebola care, which was established by WHO in consultation with the Ministry of Health and with support from USAID.

As Liberia continues to count down to the 42 days mark to be declared Ebola-free, since the last confirmed EVD case tested twice negative on March 03,  2015, the Ministry of Health of Liberia in collaboration with WHO and other partners is focusing on ensuring that healthcare workers remain safe as they continue to provide care. Today, the Acting Minister of Health, Dr Bernice Dahn launched a training package designed to empower health workers to remain safe while providing quality care to patients in health care facilities (HCFs) and in Ebola Treatment Units (ETU).

17 November 2014 -- Dead bodies can be very contagious when it comes to Ebola, but that does not mean that every deceased person has died due to the disease. In order to speed up the process of identifying the cause of death of each patient, WHO is working closely with the Liberia Institute for Biomedical Research to train burial teams on how to collect an oral swab from deceased patients safely.

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At the Island Clinic in Monrovia, Liberia the discharge of a patient who has recovered from Ebola virus disease inspires joy among all the health workers at the facility. Every life saved is another boost to morale.

“As we see fewer people dying, the health workers are becoming more confident about their work,” says Dr Atai Omoruto, a Ugandan doctor deployed to Liberia by WHO and is serving as officer in charge at the clinic.