MONROVIA, May 1 (LINA) -The United States Department of Defense has deactivated the Monrovia Medical Unit (MMU) at Camp Eason and turned the facilities over to the Government of Liberia.
According to an Executive Mansion release, the closing ceremony took place at the site in Charlesville, Margibi County on Thursday, April 30.
The MMU, a 25-bed field hospital, was constructed by the U.S. Government as a unique Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) designed to provide high level care specifically for healthcare responders that became infected with the Ebola virus disease.
It was built to bolster confidence of healthcare workers to respond to the virus and if they fell ill, they would have a place to go for high quality care.
During its six months of existence, the MMU teams cared for 42 patients from nine different nations, including 18 healthcare responders with Ebola. Nine healthcare workers survived the Ebola virus disease at the facility.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said there will be many stories written about Liberia’s fight against Ebola but stressed that there were three lessons learnt about how Liberia responded and succeeded in the fight against the disease.
She named preparedness, participation and partnership.
On preparedness, she stressed that the country’s health system collapsed because Liberia was ill-prepared.
“We need to learn the lessons of history and prepare ourselves better,” she said.
She highlighted the involvement of the various community leaders, citizens, and workers who joined the leadership of the Incidence Management System to fight the disease.
“We owe it to them for being able to take charge and assume responsibility and leadership in the fight with the contact tracing, and advocacy about the disease and how it can be defeated,” she added.
On partnership, she praised the international community for its partnership with Liberia, especially when the country did not know about the virus, how to respond and lacked the resources, they reached out.
“I want to say that the United States responded in a very significant way, including President Obama and many others,” she said, adding further that President Obama responded in a personal way.
President Sirleaf also praised the partnership with the U.S. Congress, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, (OFDA) which led the U.S. Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and most especially the U.S. Military.
“When you reach out and people have confidence in your commitment, your own dedication and acceptance in your responsibility of nationhood, then you get the response that we were able to get through this partnership,” the Liberian leader told the audience.
On behalf of the Liberia people, President Sirleaf expressed appreciation to the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps. “You left your homes and came to conditions that you did not know; conditions that were difficult. But you adjusted, worked with us and saved so many lives by the facilities that you managed,” she said.
LINA TSS/PTK