GBARNGA, September 8 (LINA) - The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to Liberia (SRSG), Karin Landgren, has stressed the need for hospitals to reopen and health workers given “adequate support” in the fight against the Ebola disease.
"Health workers who are at the frontline have to be well paid, protected and given the requisite knowledge to be safe,” Landgren pointed out in a meeting with members of the Bong County Task and health workers during a recent visit to Gbarnga, Bong County.
“In the shadow of the deadly Ebola virus, we risk having another health crisis where mothers could die in child birth, and children who have not been vaccinated against preventable diseases could go unattended simply because they have symptoms of the Ebola, thereby leading to more crisis in the country,” she said.
Landgren then pledged UNMIL’s “absolute commitment” to help Liberia in her fight against the disease, adding, “We are committed to see Liberia through this catastrophe that has befallen this country and will help in areas we can and will also advocate for you in those areas we can’t.”
Commenting on the families of all those who lost their relatives to the disease, Landgren cautioned them against taking in sick family members or said family could just be welcoming their own death sentence.
In remarks, Bong Civil Society Organizations Chairman Steven Mulbah spoke of logistics as a major challenge to the role of the CSOs in the Ebola fight and called on the UN to lend support.
He noted CSOs anticipation is to reach rural parts of the county, but they are constrained by logistics to reach targeted areas due to “very difficult terrains.”
Chairman Mulbah lauded Bong County Health Officer and the local leadership for mobilizing local expertise and resources in the fight against the Ebola disease.
LINA BK/JGT/PTK