(MONROVIA-Monday, June 28, 2021): The Incident Management System-COVID-19, and Last Mile Health are currently conducting a weeklong community engagement and awareness activities cross several counties in Liberia.
The rigorous awareness exercise targets all districts in Montserrado, Grand Bassa, Rivercess, and Grand Gedeh Counties.
A total of sixteen teams are being mobilized to work with community leaders with the Montserrado County Health Team, while four teams from the rest of the counties are now in full gear to ensure public awareness.
The robust awareness exercise focuses on the distribution of 500,000 locally made face masks to community leaders, school authorities, the Liberian Marketing Association, and civil society organizations.
Dr. Wilhelmina S. Jallah, Minister of Health, and Chairperson, Incident Management System, lauded Last Mile Health timely support to the Risk Communication Pillar.
Dr. Jallah stated that the launch of the ‘Mask Wearing campaign” by Last Mile Health and the Incident Management System is in consistent with the government of Liberia, and the Incident Management System desires to ensure Liberians and foreign Nationals’ abide by the health measures of wearing mask to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 Virus.
She praised Last Mile Health Family for its tremendous support to the IMS, including other interventions of the Health system.
For her part, Last Mile Health Country Director, Madam Marion Subah stated that her organization remain committed to Liberia’s health delivery system, especially the fight against COVID-19 Pandemic.
Madam Subah said Last Mile Health as part of the support to the Incident Management System, has allocated awareness support to other counties in which Last Mile Health is operational.
The ongoing exercise involves robust community engagement activities, the distribution of 500, 000 face masks, outreach activities using moving stage methodology, the distribution of social behavior change materials on the Dos & Don’t of COVID-19 to ensure Liberia contains the further the spread of the COVID-19 Virus.
Meanwhile, the Last Mile Health has presented to the Inter Religious Council of Liberia, two thousand sermon guide to aid religious leaders to enable them properly disseminate information on the COVID-19 pandemic across the country.
The sermon guide provides guidelines and specific COVID-19 messages for religious leader to disseminate to their various congregations, especially during the continued surge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Receiving the sermon guides on half of the Islamic Community, Iman Abdullah G. Mansaray, President, Interfaith Religious Council, (IRCL),lauded the initiative by Last Mile Health and the Incident Management System to reach out to all across the country in its effort to containing the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Iman Mansaray, stated that the Interfaith Religious Council will continued to be the beacon of hope amidst continued despair of Liberians in the wake of the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The Islamic prelate said the sermon guide will accelerate continued awareness on the Coronavirus Pandemic by religious leaders in Liberia, through various sermons by both Christians and Muslims in Liberia about the danger COVID-19 poses to the health and economic growth of the world.
Imam Mansaray, called on religious leaders to use the sermon guide as an important catalyst to changing the behavior of their various congregations attitude towards the fight of COVID-19 by abiding by all measure put in place by health authorities and the government of Liberia.
Signed:________________________
Chester A. Smith/Risk Communication Pillar Lead