By: Fred Mills
IPNEWS: Deputy Director General for Technical Services at the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) Dr. Julius Gilayeneh Sr., says Liberia has made substantial progress in strengthening it’s health systems and emergency response capabilities.
He made this statement at a press conference held at NPHIL’s headquarters in Congo Town in Monrovia on August 30th 2023.
Dr. Gilayeneh said that Liberia is also gearing up to host it’s second Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of the International Health Regulations (IHR) core capacities. Dr. Gilayeneh added that, this significant endeavor underscores Liberia’s commitment to safeguarding the country’s health and well-being of the Liberian people both within its borders and across the globe. The Joint External Evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of the Country’s readiness to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies in line with the International Health Regulations (2005). The regulations also provides a global framework for the management of cross-border spread of disease and other health risks, noting that it also ensures a coordinated national and International response.
For it’s part, the World Health Organization (WHO) represented by Dr. Musu Duworko, added that the WHO acknowledges the significance of the Joint External Evaluations(JEEs) .
She noted that the evaluations are vital voluntary external assessment of a Nation’s capacities in preventing, detecting and responding to public health threats and situations in accordance with the guidelines set out in the International Health Regulations (IHR). Dr Duworko who is the Family Health and Population advisor at the who furthered that Liberia’s first initial JEE , carried out between September 5th and 9th of 2016, laid the foundation for subsequent evaluations.
Adding that, although the second JEE was originally scheduled for the end of 2021, it had to be postponed due to the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 related travel and gathering restrictions. She then inserted that she was pleased to announce that the second Joint External Evaluation (JEE) was now slated for September 4th to the 8th, 2023.
She stated that the exercise was crucial collaborating effort between the Liberian government , bolstered by the partnership support of the World Bank’s REDISSE project and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Liberia conducted it’s first JEE in 2016, resulting in an overall readiness score of 46%. This pivotal assessment led to the formulation of the National Action Plan for health Security (NAPHS) for 2018-2023, was designed to address identified gaps and recommendations from the 2016 Joint External Evaluation(JEE).
