Liberia News

Monrovia, 25 April 2016 - The WHO Regional Director for the Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti called upon all African countries to sustain gains and strengthen immunization coverage to reach the unreached communities. This was disclosed during the regional launch of the African Vaccination Week (AVW) under the theme “Close the Immunization gap: Stay Polio Free” in Ganta, Nimba County in Liberia.

Monrovia 23rd April - The Ministry of Health Liberia embraced the move to switch from the use of trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine bOPV in its routine immunization schedule. This initiative to withdraw type 2 component of tOPV is part of the global polio eradication endgame strategy for 2013-2018.

All of Liberia’s 15 counties successfully implemented the national SWITCH day on April, 22nd, 2016. This historical milestone comes three days before the regional launch of the African Vaccination Week in Ganta, Nimba County on 25th April.

WHO and Ministry of Health teams in Guinea and Liberia have established epidemiological links between new Ebola cases in Liberia and a current flare-up of Ebola in neighbouring Guinea following intensified case investigations and contact tracing.

Update from the field
4 April 2016

WHO and Ministry of Health teams in Liberia and Guinea are investigating the origins of transmission in Liberia’s latest flare-up after learning that a woman who died from Ebola in Liberia last week had recently travelled from Guinea with her three young children.

WHO statement 
1 April 2016

Lab results confirm a new case of Ebola virus disease in Liberia — a 30-year-old woman who died yesterday afternoon while being transferred to a hospital in the capital Monrovia.

Liberia’s Ministry of Health, WHO and partner agencies immediately sent a team to the community outside Monrovia where the woman lived and the clinic where she was being treated to begin case investigation and identification of individuals who may have been in contact with her.

As many as 1 in 5 Liberians suffer a mild to moderate mental disorder, according to WHO estimates, yet the country has only one registered psychiatrist and, until recently, the vast majority of health workers had a limited understanding of mental illness.

This is changing however, as WHO and partners are helping to equip health workers across the country with the skills to provide front-line care for people with mental illness.

Monrovia, 7 March 2016 - Access to safe, effective, good quality and affordable medicines is a vital component of a health care delivery system. As part of the Post- Ebola recovery program, the Ministry of Health (MoH), Liberia, has initiated a number of steps in strengthening the supply management chain system to ensure the availability of medical and diagnostic supplies on a regular basis at the various health facilities.

Monrovia, 8 March - The three West African countries most affected by the recent Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak have made significant achievements on infection prevention and control (IPC) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) implementation. Infection prevention is one of the major factors in EVD prevention and control and is a key indicator monitored under the International Health Regulations (IHR-2005).

Liberia’s health system is progressively recovering from the unprecedented Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak that tested its fragility. The recovery process is guided by the Investment Plan for building a Resilient Health System that prioritizes among others emergency preparedness and response as well as the fit-for-purpose, productive and motivated health workforce and health infrastructure. 

Monrovia, 25 February 2016 - Almost 8,500 Liberian health workers have been trained in delivering safe, quality care as part of a Ministry of Health program aimed at rebuilding trust in a health system that was devastated by the Ebola outbreak.