Liberia News

Last week saw a welcome boost to numbers of treatment places available to people with Ebola in Monrovia, Liberia. The Island Clinic, a private clinic refurbished as an Ebola Treatment Unit by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare with support from WHO and other partners, opened its doors on Sunday 21 September, adding another desperately needed 120 Ebola treatment beds to the 240 available in Monrovia.

Monrovia, 10 April 2015 - During the past fifteen years, Liberia has gone through three complex emergencies, two civil wars and currently the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.  These emergencies disrupted the country’s economy and caused the near collapse of the health sector.   The Government and partners have initiated a number of measures to rehabilitate and reconstruct the country and in particular to restore access to basic health services. 

Ever since the closure of the university due to the Ebola outbreak, Tony Harrison, sociology student at the University of Liberia, has been trying to help stop the spread of the Ebola virus in his country. He joined the team of active case finders to go from house to house to find out if sick people are being treated.

 Tony B. Harrison is a sociology student at the University of Liberia. Ever since the closure of his university many months ago due to the Ebola outbreak, Tony has been trying to find opportunities to help stop the spread of the Ebola virus in his country.

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.

Read the photo story

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.