MONROVIA, February 26 (LINA) - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has revealed that 13 out of Liberia’s 15 counties have reported no new cases in over 21 days and that the country is down to 1 to 3 infections per week.
“Notwithstanding, we have continued to warn our citizens against complacency. We can neither rest nor lift our foot off the gas. We are determined to “Get to Zero” cases by April 15 in keeping with agreements reached recently at our Mano River Union Summit,” she said.
“We are all keenly aware that travelling that last mile to zero new cases will be much more difficult because the disease has retreated and must now be chased down in every corner. But, counting on your continued support, we will get to zero, and remain at zero,” President Sirleaf stressed.
She was speaking at an event hosted y Congressman Chris Coons and the U.S. Institute of Peace in Room 216, Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on Thursday as part of her three-day official visit to the U.S.
President Sirleaf said it was clear that full eradication will not be achieved until the whole region is freed from Ebola, adding: “This is why securing our borders remains a priority requiring additional resources, as well as providing assistance to our neighbors.”
She said Liberia remains confident of getting to zero because it now has 19 Ebola Treatment Units, 74 burial teams with the ability to safely remove bodies in less than 24 hours, and over 4,000 contact tracers, which increasingly involve community workers.
The Liberian leader noted that doctors, nurses and other health care workers, some 179 of whom died, are no longer at risk because quality treatment facilities are available to them.
And while Ebola has rendered more than 3,000 children orphaned due to the deaths of 3,608 people, 1,401 people, including 254 children, have survived the disease, she said.
But President Sirleaf noted that even as the nation celebrates its success, “the truth also is that the cost has been extremely high - too high for many grieving families and our recovering nation to bear.”
She observed that Ebola struck after ten years of sustained peace, during which Liberia saw an average annual growth rate of 7 percent, experienced a 50 percent reduction in the infant mortality rate; increased life expectancy by17 additional years; relieved the nation from crippling external debts; restored economic and social order and infrastructure, and perhaps more importantly, established a free and democratic society, thereby reversing the many decades of authoritarian rule.
“We must now return to rebuilding Liberia’s peace and prosperity, even as we eliminate the threat of Ebola,” she pointed out.
She added: “This requires updating the healthcare system, including an early warning system that integrates the public and private sectors, and the country has begun to revise its 10-year health plan with a heavy focus on training to rebuild and strengthen capacities.”
The Liberian leader said the country was also seeking to rebuild its health infrastructure, prioritizing “roadways to health” to access hard-to-reach facilities.
“We have asked the 137 partners from some 26 countries who are with us in this fight to move at an appropriate pace from treatment to prevention. Liberia has only218 medical doctors and 5234 nurses to serve a population of 4.3 million at 405 public and 253 private health facilities. These facts will not change overnight,” she said.
LINA