UNICEF has today, July 23, 2020 begun a nationwide
distribution of essential drugs and medical supplies, worth over Two Hundred Thirty-Six Thousand United
States Dollars (US$236000.00).
UNICEF is carrying out the distribution on behalf of the
Ministry of Health (MOH).
A statement from the Ministry said the distribution which is
in three folds includes medical equipment, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
and essential drugs.
According to the statement, the distribution comes as part
of agreement between the Ministry and the World Bank.
UNICEF procured the drugs and medical equipment through an
arrangement with the World Bank to help
boost the fight against COVID 19.
A distribution plan has already been drawn up, as the counties
are in full gear to receive their items.
In a related development, the World Bank today donated a
brand new ventilator to the ministry. An official of the Bank said the donation
is part of the 17-million United States Dollars the bank has allotted to help
Liberia fight the coronavirus.
In response, Health Minister, Wihelmina Jallah thanked the
World Bank for the donation and called on others including diaspora Liberians
to follow suit.
Minister Jallah also called for strict compliance of the COVID
19 preventive measures and vowed to institute punitive action against
violators.
The latest ventilator brings to twenty-four the number of
ventilators the ministry now has.
(July 21, 2020,
Monrovia, Liberia)—The Ministry of Health (MoH) on Friday,
July 17, 2020 received a consignment of essential medicines from the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) aimed at buttressing
government’s efforts in the Heath Sector.
The medical supplies worth US$1.7 million, were
procured by USAID under an arrangement it reached with the Ministry to help
procure additional critically needed medicines and health commodities in the
country.
According to the Ministry’s release, additional two
other consignments are expected to arrive in Monrovia by the end of September
through USAID’s support.
Receiving the medical consignments on behalf of the
Government and H.E. Dr. George Weah, Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah acknowledges the
outstanding supports the Government and people of the United States has given
towards the Health Sector since the inception of the Weah-led government.
According to Dr. Jallah, evidence of this is being
shown when the U.S. government is fighting against the deadly Coronavirus
pandemic and at the same time supplying assorted medical items to Liberia;
something she said worth commending.
The energetic and farsighted Health Minister has pledged
the Ministry’s commitment to working with USAID for equitable distribution of
the drugs to various government’s medical facilities across the Country.
“we all worked tirelessly together to ensure that
this can be a success. Now, we hope and pray that, as we receive these drugs,
they will be distributed properly for the common good of the Liberian people”,
she assured.
In welcoming statements, Boakai Boley, Managing
Director of the Central Medical Store (CMS) praised the U.S. government for the
consignment and vowed to begin its subsequent distribution.
“We want to appreciate you for your assiduous and
continuous supports towards our sector with drugs. This is not your first time
aiding us. Some months back, I can remember, you donated trucks to help enhance
the distribution of drugs. However, we will shortly begin distribution of these
drugs”, he said via zoom communication.
While handing over the medicines to Health Minister,
Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah, the United States Chargé d’Affaires, Alyson Grunder, speaking
virtually said the U.S. Government is committed to helping Liberia create a
“well-functioning health delivery system that provides all Liberians access to
quality health services, including safe, effective, and affordable medicines.”
The consignments of essential medicines are in
addition to other much needed medical commodities the United States has
provided the people of Liberia for several years now—commodities critical to
improving access to family planning, treating chronic diseases, and reducing
preventable mortality.
Although the Ministry’s major concern is to
eradicate the Coronavirus from the Country, but the overall provision of
quality health delivery to the Country and its people cannot be overlooked. As
such, the Ministry will soon embark on distribution of the drugs to various
government’s health facilities.
IN THE WAKE OF INCREASING CASES AND DEATHS FROM THE
CORONAVIRUS DISEASE IN LIBERIA, AND GIVEN OUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CURRENT SPREAD OF
THE VIRUS IN THE COMMUNITIES, ITS MODES OF TRANSMISSION, AND MEANS OF
PREVENTION, THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH HEREBY ANNOUNCES A REVISED SET OF NATIONAL
HEALTH EMERGENCY GUIDE GUIDELINES IN KEEPING WITH THE HEALTH EMERGENCY DECALRED
ON MARCH 21, 2020 PURSANT TO CHAPTER 14 OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW OF LIBERIA.
UNDER THIS REVISED DECLARATION I HEREWITH DESIGNATE ALL 15 COUNTIES OF THE
REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA AS AFFECTED AREAS IN WHICH THE FOLLOWING RULES AND
REGULATIONS MUST APPY IMMEDIATELY AND REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTILL OHTERWISE
MODEFIED. THIS DECLARATION WILL BE UPDATED BASED ON THE PREVAILING SITUAITON IN
THE COVID-19 RESPONSE.
All persons
shall strictly follow and abide by all health protocols to protect against the
spread of COVID-19 in Liberia which include the following:
All persons
shall wear a face mask covering both the nose and mouth at all times when in
public place and when attending to sick persons;
For clarity, public place is any place accessible to
members of the public such as market places; shopping centers; transport
vehicles including taxis, buses, keh-keh and motor cycles; health facilities;
institutions of learning; hotels; entertainment centers and sports bars or
video clubs; government buildings; business establishments, ports of entry etc.
All
Government institutions shall adopt a no-mask-no-entry, no-service policy;
Social
physical distancing of a minimum of three (3) feet from each other at all times
is hereby imposed;
Community
and traditional leaders shall ensure the wearing of face masks in their
communities;
Mandatory hand
washing with soap and clean water or alcohol based hand sanitizer is hereby
ordered. Homes and all establishments, public and private shall ensure the
implementation of this protocol at all times.
All
INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING ARE TO REMAIN CLOSED AS WE WORK WITH THE MINISTRY OF
EDUCATION FOR REOPENING. IN THE MAIN TIME, 12 GRADERS WHO ARE IN SCHOOL
PREPARING FOR WASP MUST CONTINUE TO STRICTLY FOLLOW THE HEALTH PROTOCOLS LISTED
IN COUNT 1 ABOVE.
CHURCHES,
MOSQUES AND ALL OTHER CENTERS OF WORSHIP AND PERSONS IN ATTENDANCE SHALL FOLLOW
THE HEALTH PROTOCOLS LISTED IN COUNT 1 ABOVE.
LARGE
GATHERINGS INCLUDING PARTIES OF MORE THAN 10 PEOPLE, SPORTING EVENTS, WEDDINGS,
AND FUNERALS ARE ALLOWED PROVIDED PERSONS IN ATTENDENCE FOLLOW THE HEALTH
PROTOCOLS LISTED IN COUNT 1 ABOVE.
RESTAURANTS
AND COOKSHOPS SHALL BE OPENED PROVIDED PERSONS AND STAFF IN ATTENDANCE FOLLOW
THE HEALTH PROTOCOLS LISTED IN COUNT 1 ABOVE.
BARBER
SHOPS AND BEAUTY SALONS AND PERSONS AND STAFF IN ATTENDANCE SHALL FOLLOW THE
HEALTH PROTOCOLS LISTED IN COUNT 1 ABOVE.
BANKS SHALL
ONLY ALLLOW TEN PEOPLE AT A TIME IN THE SERVICE AREAS AND THOSE OUTSIDE THE
BANKS SHOULD KEEP A DISTANCE OF AT LEAST THREE FEET APART FROM EACH OTHER WHILE
AWAITING SERVICE. PERSONS AND STAFF IN ATTENDANCE SHALL FOLLOW THE HEALTH
PROTOCOLS LISTED IN COUNT 1 ABOVE.
PUBLIC
TRANSPORTS: TAXIS SHALL CARRY NO MORE THAN THREE PASSENGERS IN THE BACK AND ON
PASSSENGER IN THE FRONT; KEH-KEH SHOULD CARRY ONLY TWO PASSENGERS IN THE BACK
AND NO PASSENGER IN THE FRONT. ALL DRIVERS/RIDERS AND PASSENGERS SHALL FOLLO THE
PROTOCOLS LISTED UNDER COUNT 1 ABOVE. COMPULSARY MASK WEARING IS HEREBY IMPOSED
IN ALL PUBLIC TRANSPORTS.
ALL PORTS
OF ENTRY SHALL FOLLOW DIRECTIVES FROM THE PRESIDENT VIA THE MINISTRY OF
TRANSPORT AND THE LIBERIAN CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY.
ALL
SUPERMARKETS AND LARGE STORES MUST INSIST ON MASK WEARING AND ALLOW ONLY 20
CUSTONERS AT A TIME, WHILE THOSE CUSTOMERS OBSERVE SOCIAL DISTANCING BY BEING A
MINIMUM OF THREE FEET APART AT ALL TIMES. THOSE OUTSIDE SHALL REMAIN OUTSIDE AND
STAND A MINIMUM OF THREE FEET APART AS WELL, AS THEY AWAIT THEIR TURN TO BE
SERVED. ALL BUSINESSES ARE REQUIRED TO FIND INNOVATIVE WAYS OF IMPLEMENTING
COUNT 1.
ALL HEALTH
FACILITIES, HEALTH INSTITUTIONS AND PHARMACIES WILL REMAIN OPEN FOR ROUTINE
SERVICES, WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING PRACTICES. ALL SAFETY RULES AND PROCEDURES AT
HOSPITALS AND ALL FACILITIES SHALL BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO. MANDATORY MASK
WEARING IS IMPOSED AT ALL HEALTH INSTITUTIONS.
ALL
MARKETERS AND BUYERS ARE REQUIRED TO ABIDE BY THE HEALTH PROTOCOLS LISTED IN
COUNT 1.
ALL STREET
SELLERS ARE REQUIRED TO ABIDE BY THE HEALTH PROTOCOLS LISTED IN COUNT 1.
COMMUNITY
DWELLERS ARE ASKED TO PLEASE REPORT PEOPLE WHO SHOW SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF THE
CORONAVIRUS SUCH AS (COUGHING, FEVER, DIFFICULTY BREATHING) IN THEIR
COMMUNITIES TO RELEVENT HEALTH AND SECURITY AUTHORITIES. PLEASE CALLS (4455).
NIGHT CLUBS
AND BARS SHALL REMAIN CLOSED; OTHER RELATED ENTAINMENT CENTERS SUCH BUSINESS
DEALING ACOHOLIC BEVERAGES SHALL CLOSED AT 9PM.
OFFICIAL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ON THE COVID-19 VIRUS
SHALL ONLY BE ANNOUNCED BY THE MOH, NPHIL AND MICAT.
ALL CITIZENS, RESIDENTS AND VISITORS ARE REQUIRED TO ABIDE BY
THESE RULES.
SANCTIONS: VIOLATION
OF THESE SET OF RULES SHALL BE DEALT WITH IN KEEPING WIITH SECTION 14.6 OF THE
PUBLIC HEALHT LAW WHICH STATTES IN PART:
“Any
person…who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or any of the rules
Made thereunder shall, upon conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars or to imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or to both such fine and imprisonment”.
NOTE: MANDATORY MASK
WERING IMPOSED ABOVE APPLIES TO ALL PERSONS INCLUDING PUBLIC OFFICIALS.
The Ministry of Justice, AS HEAD OF THE JOINT SECURITY, SHALL
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS ENFORCE THESE RULES
WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN, WE SHALL AND WE MUST KICK COVIID-19
OUT OF LIBERIA.
GIVEN UNDER MY HAND IN THE CITY OF MONROVIA ON THIS 22ND
DAY OF July A.D. 2020
As prevention and eradication of the deadly coronavirus from the Country remain a paramount concern of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and government, the Ministry on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 adopted a digital innovation named ‘Passport Covid’ to strengthen its capacity in the fight against the global pandemic Passport Covid is a digital identity assigns to each citizen a status among six (6) values (Positive, Negative, Cured, Pending Result, expired test, to be Repeated) through USSD technology—a standard for transmitting information over GSM signaling channels. It is also accessible on all categories of phones (Android, iOS and a web portal) and can be integrated with all mobile operators. The application does not record the movements of the phone and therefore, respects the privacy of its users.
While adopting the solution at the Ministry, Liberia’s Health Minister Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah called on Liberians to take advantage of the process to get quick access to their result.
“we are adopting this new exercise so as to allow people access their own information when it is released”, she disclosed. Minister Jallah encourages users of the solution to dial *303# in order to access their test results without physical contact: “Now, the Liberian population can access the USSD code by dialing *303# to benefit from the services offered by the application to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Liberia Dr. Jallah expressed thanks to partners, including Zero Poor Africa, MTN, Orange and Healthcare Federation of Liberia for their contribution towards the success of the project.
In remarks, Banki Technology SAS CEO, Mamadou Bah,
said the new solution can detect automatic notification of suspected cases, and
trace people checked at the dams: “This is meant to trace people who want to
bypass the system.”
The digital innovation offers to the Ministry by a
Guinean IT company (Banki Technology SAS), facilitates the rendering of
COVID-19 test results, eliminates the risk of falsification of test results or
travel documents as well as enforces controls at the level of the sanitary at
the various borders. It also locates screening and care centers, and provides
statistics
(June 30, 2020, Monrovia,
Liberia)The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have signed a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) aimed at boosting quality health care delivery in six
(6) counties. The beneficiary counties are: Nimba, Bong, Grand Cape Mount,
Grand Gedeh, Lofa, and River Gee.
The signing
of the MOU was made under the Fixed Amount Reimbursement Agreement (FARA) of
the MOH where it gets support for the implementation of the government’s 10
year National Health Policy and Plan.
Under the
US$6.1 agreement, USAID will reimburse the government for the cost of
implementing components of the Essential Package of Health Services that
support family planning, maternal and child health and malaria prevention and
treatment.
Speaking at
the signing of the MOU on Monday, June 29, 2020 between the County Health
Officers (CHOs) of the six counties, the Minister of Health Dr. Wilhelmina
Jallah called on the CHOs to work diligently to ensure that resources are
managed properly to boost quality health delivery in their respective
counties.
She noted
that transparency and accountability are the bedrock of the FARA program and
expressed hope that the remaining counties are included in the near future.
The Liberian
Health Minister plea with the USAID for the continuation of project in the
Country, which she said has made significant impact in the Country’s health
system.
However, she
pledged President George Manneh Weah’s willingness to working with USAID and
other friendly partners for the common good of the Liberian people.
Earlier,
Jessica Healey, USAID Health Representative, who chatted via video call,
thanked the MOH team for the tremendous work in making the partnership a
success and pledged USAID’s commitment to the project.
Madam
Handley praised the six counties for the implementation of US$6.2 million which was signed last year June and expressed
anticipation of effectuated
performances.
.In addition
to reimbursement, she noted that USAID gives different technical assistance
including a small financial package that the county health team can apply for
to address some challenges encountered in the implementation process.
In separate remarks, CHOs of the six beneficiary counties thanked USAID and the MOH for the continuation of the project and pledged to do all for its successful implementation.
(July 2, 2020, Monrovia, Liberia)—The Coronavirus Incident Management System (IMS) has begun strategic counties Tour aimed at engaging counties’ leadership for their rapid response and involvement in the fight against the COVID-19, which has paralyzed global health system.
According to a release from the IMS, the engagement with Counties political leaders is geared towards insuring their involvement in the response and coordination with the incident command structure at all counties’ level.
The orientation meeting which was held in the port city of
Buchanan over the weekend gathered political stakeholders, including
Representatives, County Health Officers (CHTs) County Superintends, and members
of the joint Security from River Cess and Grand Bassa Counties.
Explaining the importance of the tour more to the MoHTv, Mr. Abraham
Nyenswah, Public Health Emergency Operation Center (PHEOC) Manager said the
orientation meeting was meant to abreast political stakeholders with their roles
and responsibilities.
The Manager said when stakeholders in the country are
orientated with IMS’ command; they will take rightful decision in the enforcement
of masks wearing and other preventive measures in order to curtail the sporadic
spread of the virus.
The release noted that, as a way of building coordination and
corporation between both the IMS and stakeholders, the meeting provided
fundamental principles of incident management to be used as guidance for their
respective command.
When it comes to discharging function in the IMS, Mr Nyenswah
disclosed that decisions are made through the incident command system—not only
a single institution including the County Health Team or Internal Affairs
Ministry can take action without consultation with the body.
Mr Nyenswah has appealed to political leaders to make use of
the needed resources available and trust the technicians for the full
implementation of the IMS, and at the same time urged all political leaders to
collectively work together in the interest of the state.
For his part, River Cess COVID-19 Incident command System
Head, Dr. Joseph Topoe discouraged the existence of COVID-19 vaccine, terming
it as a “myth”.
“People should not believe that there is a vaccine or cure
for this virus. This is just a complete myth. No one should lie to you that
there exists any vaccine of the virus,’’ he stressed.
PHECO Manager Abraham Nyenswah addressing participants in Buchanan City
Since vaccine for the virus has not been officially discovered,
there is a need for the taskforce and CHTs to work together in dispersing the
myth concerning immunization. Saying “these are challenges face by the counties
health teams on a daily basis concerning the discovering of the COVID-19
vaccine”.
Making special statement on behalf of the political stakeholders,
Grand Bassa County Superintendent for Development, Hon. Flee A. Glay thanked
IMS for the meeting and asked the team to always invite stakeholders to such
orientation for the dissemination of Coronavirus awareness messages to the Liberian
populace.
He called on political stakeholders as well as all well-meaning
Liberians to corporate with health authority in order to contain the spread of
the virus.
The IMS is a standard approach is used in large and
small-scale incidents throughout the globe. The MoH and partners adopted the IMS
principles in managing their responses to public health emergencies, which in
addition to the command, operations, logistics, planning, and
finance/administrative functions, also includes scientific/public health
response roles.
