Liberia News

In early December, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urged the people of Liberia to travel the last mile to reduce Ebola cases to zero. That last mile will be very long and difficult, and can only be achieved when every county has the capacity to find and isolate all cases, trace all contacts and bury all who die from Ebola safely. Here is the story of 2 remote villages travelling that last mile.

The number of new Ebola cases in Liberia has been falling in recent weeks. Now, hard-to-reach villages are at the frontline in the fight to drive cases to zero.

31 October 2014 – Monrovia, Liberia. Today a new Ebola treatment unit opens at the former Ministry of Defence compound, on the outskirts of Monrovia. This new unit adds another 200 beds to the almost 500 currently available for Ebola patients in the Liberian capital, which remains the epicentre of the outbreak.

Monrovia, 10 April, 2015 - Following years of a catastrophic civil war, the Government of Liberia, along with partners put in place a number of initiatives for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the health sector that was completely ravished. Paramount among these efforts was the development of a ten year National Health and Social Welfare Policy and Plan along with an essential package of health services.

Just before the holiday season started a certification ceremony was held for all the health care workers that had completed all the stages of the WHO led clinical Ebola training in Monrovia. 

The training program started back in late September and was developed into a two- staged program, separated as a “Cold” training and the “Hot” training.

The Cold training was held in an Ebola realistic environment, and consisted of five days training. From mid November the Hot training started with a three days training in a real Ebola Treatment unit.

October 2014 - One of the challenges to bring the Ebola outbreak under control in Liberia has been lack of access locally to laboratories able to provide a quick and firm diagnosis of the disease. This month the United States Navy opened a new high-tech mobile laboratory near the Island Clinic, one of the Ebola treatment units in Monrovia, Liberia, that is supported by the WHO.

Monrovia, 26th May, 2015: Liberia successfully concluded a week long integrated measles vaccination campaign for under fives in all the 15 counties. This campaign executed from May 8-14 was launched at the Duport Road Health Center in Monrovia by the Vice President of the Republic of Liberia, His Excellency Joseph Nyuma Boakai.

Today 11th May, 2015 the Government of the Republic of Liberia hosted a celebration marking the end of Ebola outbreak in Liberia at a colorful event held at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion, Monrovia. At this event the WHO Country Representative presented the Ebola Free declaration to the Head of Incident Management Team, who in turn presented it to the Minister of Health and Her Excellency the President of Liberia.

Today, 9 May 2015, WHO declares Liberia free of Ebola virus transmission. Forty-two days have passed since the last laboratory-confirmed case was buried on 28 March. The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia is over.
 
Interruption of transmission is a monumental achievement for a country that reported the highest number of deaths in the largest, longest, and most complex outbreak since Ebola first emerged in 1976. At the peak of transmission, which occurred during August and September 2014, the country was reporting from 300 to 400 new cases every week.
 

Joint statement from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Liberia; the Centers for Disease Control (CDC); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Monrovia, 8 May 2015 – A week-long campaign to vaccinate more than 600,000 children against polio and measles kicks off today in Liberia, led by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and supported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Monrovia, 28 April, 2015 - The Ministry of Health (MOH) / National Malaria Control Program in collaboration with its partners on Saturday, 25th April, 2015 commemorated World Malaria Day 2015 and launched the distribution of 2.8 Million Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets. The commemorative event was held in Monrovia at the City Hall.