-Invite Health authorities to provide information on Liberia’s Preparedness
By Mark N. Mengonfia, mmenginfia@gmail.com
The House of Representatives of the Liberian Legislature on Monday raised serious concerns about Liberia’s preparedness to contain any outbreak of the Coronavirus, which has so far killed scores of people in China and reached other countries.
Deliberating on a communication from Montserrado County District# 16 regulating that the National Public Health Institute of Liberia and the Ministry of Health be made to appear before that body to clearly tell the Liberian people on steps that are being taken to handle any outbreak that may spike up in the country, members of that body rose serious concerns about the situation in China.
The Liberian Lawmakers who were using one microphone from one lawmker to the other during a deliberation on the respiratory virus, sought answer from their Chairperson on Health as it relates to the safety measures employed to contain the virus I case any outbreak.
Representative Dixon W. Seboe communication under the reference, ‘An Emergency Call for Preventive Action: Coronavirus’ detailed that there is an urgent need for Liberia as a country to put measures in place for safety of the Liberian population.
The lawmakers was concern about the statistics being presented relating to the amount of cases discovered and corresponding deaths in the short period of time is alarming and scaring.
Rep. Seboe indicated in his communication that, “most importantly, it is good that we emphasize how the virus is described and the manner in which it spread or contracted”.
The Montserrado lawmakers said “I humbly request that plenary invites the management of the National Public Health Institute and authorities of the Ministry of Health to clearly tell the Liberian people on steps that are being taken to handle any outbreak that may spike up in our county considering the movement of people geographically”.
It was against this backdrop of the communication from the Montserrado County Representative that Lawmakers that the plenary of the House of Representatives reached a decision to invite the relevant health authorities to appear before full plenary to provide all necessary information and preventive measures they have employed to contain the virus in case of any outbreak.
Members of the House of Representatives who spoke on the issue described the situation as a health emergency.
Recently, the Liberian health Ministry and partners had a joint press conference with Representatives from the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control and the National Public Health Institute of Liberia, wherein they broke silence of the virus outbreak in China. And informed Liberians that the country was free of the virus but advised the population to revert to the hand washing method, avoid touches.
During the joint conference held at Liberia’s Ministry of Health, the acting director of the NPHIL, Dr. Mosoka Fallah said that they as health institution have increase surveillance at major points of entrance of the country including the Robert’s International Airport, the Freeport of Monrovia and other place.
According to international media reports, the virus has surfaced in Africa with neighboring Ivory Coast being the area a case of the virus was discovered.
To date, cases of the virus have been detected in Thailand, Japan, the Republic of South Korea, USA, France and Australia, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
All African countries including Liberia are seriously considering steps to take to prevent the virus in their territories.
With the invitation extended to Liberia’s health authorities, it is expected that they are going to provide more information as it relates to the preventing the outbreak of the virus in Liberia.