IPNEWS-Monrovia – Liberia is once again at the head table providing tutorials for other nation’s health teams at a meeting in Conakry, Guinea.
Few weeks ago, neighboring Guinean health authorities reported the re-emergence of the deadly Ebola virus disease (EVD). Liberia bore the blunt of the effect of this deadly disease when it was first discovered in this region. More than 5000 Liberians and other nationalities perished at the hands of this monster killer.
While the nation bled profusely trying to get rid of our ignorance about this strange killer that had come to our shores for the first time since it was discovered in the 1970s in East Africa, it also became a learning and knowing curve for every Liberian especially the nation’s strong men and women, who are usually in white, blue and purple linen suits — health workers.
The year 2014 and the month March are forever going to be engrained in the minds of most Liberia. It was the month and year that Ebola was first reported to have surfaced in Liberia after it had earlier been reported in December 2013 in the same neighboring Guinea. For the next two years, a number of lives were destroyed and their lifeless bodies were cremated, totally against the burial tradition of the people of Liberia.
Because Liberia learned a lot at managing and handling the disease, when the second and third waves broke out, they were very easily handled and dealt with by everyone especially the health workers.
It is now based on this expert knowledge that Liberia has in tackling the EVD, that with this resurgence of the virus again in the sub-region, regional health authorities have run to Liberia’s Ministry of Health for expert pieces of advice, so that the disease won’t cross over from Guinea and to other parts of the Mano River Union nations.
Liberia’s Health Minister, Dr. Wilhelmina S. Jallah and delegation comprising Epidemiologist and Community Engagement Experts have landed in Conkary, Guinea to provide strategic methods and Standard Operating Procedures intended to undercut further spread of the EVD in that sisterly republic and prevent the importation of the virus into Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In her first engagement, Dr. Jallah told her counterparts that countries of the Mano River Basin must never forget the lasting scars left behind by the deadly Ebola virus disease.
It may be recalled, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone in 2014, suffered the horrors with death in thousands of its citizens.
At least 11,310 deaths was recorded in the three countries with a total of 28,616 cases of EVD according to the World Health Organization (WHO) records, before the disease was curtailed in the region.
“Now that Ebola virus has resurfaced in one of the countries of the region (Guinea), it is something that is scaring for the rest of the sisterly countries (Liberia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone), which requires proper planning and the right strategy to combat this deadly EBOLA virus in the region.”
“We came to Guinea to discuss plans on how to build resilience against Ebola virus before it spreads through the region,” Liberia’s Health Minister, Dr. Willimina Jallah told IPNEWS.
The Liberia Health Minister stated that as part of discussion, the Liberian delegation jointly review the preparedness plans of each of the countries and see how they can work together on a daily basis and support each other to protect their region.
“We all know the devastating effect it will cause us if it leaves from Guinea to other countries,” says Dr. Jallah.
Countries in the region have porous border crossing points. One can easily walk through from Cote d’Ivoire to Liberia or from Guinea to Liberia, from Mali to Ivory Coast and so on.
This porosity of the borders is what worrying the Health Ministers of the region to have gone for the emergency meeting in the Republic of Guinea.
The first outbreak of the virus which last for about two years started from Guinea and later crossed over to Liberia and caused what health authorities described as ‘havoc’.
After five years, the virus reappeared in the region as the government of Guinea confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in the southeastern city of N’Zerekore, near the border with Liberia, Guinean Minister of Health, Remy Lamah confirmed.
Liberia’s Health Minister Jallah via the telephone interview said during their gathering, the Health Minister of Guinea informed them that over one thousand and eighty five persons have been revaccinated thus far against the virus while they (Guinean government) is expected to contain the virus by April of this year if it does not leave their reach.
Dr. Jallah indicated that during their meeting, they learned from each other and as well discussed on stepping out of their comfort zoon, see how citizens are doing and be visible at various porous border points in their region.
“We learned from the World Health Organization (WHO) the protocols we all should be using at various ports of entries (Land, sea and air ports) to help us contain the spread of this virus,” Dr. Jallah added.
Covid_19 Vaccines
Meanwhile, Liberia is set today to receive its share of the Covid_19 vaccines under the auspices of the global collaboration of Covid_19 vaccine supply by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners.
The 36,000 doses of the COVAX vaccines are part of an initial tranche of deliveries of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine licensed to the Serum Institute of India.
Ghana was the first nation in the West African subregion to receive 600,000 doses of the vaccine. It was followed by La Cote d’Ivoire.
Meanwhile, most African countries will kick-start their COVID-19 vaccination programs by the end of March as efforts to procure doses for the continent’s 1.3 billion people gather pace, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
Africa faces logistical and financial obstacles to securing all the vaccines it needs, but the WHO-led COVAX facility has begun to bear fruit.
“This week Africa has been at the forefront of COVAX facility deliveries, finally, with almost 10 million vaccine doses being delivered to 11 countries as of this morning,” WHO Africa’s Matshidiso Moeti told a virtual news conference.
“We expect that around half of African countries will receive COVAX deliveries in the coming week and that most countries will have vaccination programs underway by the end of March.”
COVAX, also led by the GAVI vaccines alliance and other partners, plans to send about 1.3 billion doses to 92 lower- and middle-income nations, covering up to 20% of their populations.
As of Thursday, Africa had reported at least 3,955,000 infections and 104,000 deaths. That is still a relatively small toll compared to other continents, with higher national death counts in the United States, India, Brazil, Russia and Britain.
