Liberia News

Coordinated response bringing more resources and access to care 
 

Community leaders in three counties in Liberia – Montserrado, Margibi, and Lofa – are receiving information sessions on Ebola as part of the effort to contain the disease. WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to conduct these sessions on the basics of the disease, how it is transmitted and what people can do to help authorities contain the disease.

Monrovia, Liberia:

On behalf of Dr. Margaret Chan (Director-General of the World Health Organization) and Dr. Luis G. Sambo (WHO Regional Director for Africa), the WHO Country Office for Liberia is delighted to donate 66 boxes of Onchocerciasis Drugs to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The donation is valued at over US$150,000.00 (One Hundred Fifty Thousand United States Dollars).

The Government of Liberia has signed its first three groundbreaki ng contract agreements with key implementing partners for the US$52m Ebola Emergency Response operation that is intended to accelerate Liberia’s response to the Ebola epidemic across the country

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.

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.

Monrovia, 16 March 2015 - As Liberia marks the second week of Zero cases of Ebola, the Cuban medical team through the Cuban Government Health Attaché announced conclusion of the team’s successful Ebola Response mission in the country. The Attaché was addressing a ceremony organized by the Ministry of Health in partnership with UNMEER, World Health Organization and US CDC to bid farewell to the team.

14 November 2014 - Monrovia, Liberia. Today, Dr Bruce Aylward, head of the Ebola Response Team at the World Health Organization, wraps up a four-day visit to Liberia to get a better understanding of the Ebola response activities on the ground.

While the number of new cases appears to be declining, with reported cases in the capital city going down from 75 to 25 new cases per day, a mixed picture emerges in different counties.