By Bill W. Cooper
The government of Liberia through the Montserrado County Health Team (MCHT) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) with support from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), AFENET, Last Mile Health, USCDC and others are continuing their five-day community voluntary testing for residents of the Township of West Point.
The event, funded by the German government (giz), which kicked off at the YMCA building in the West Point on July 31, is the fourth community engagement since the process was initiated and communities that benefitted earlier were the Thinkers Village, Paynesville Du-port Road, King Gray and now West Point.
Serving as the official launcher, West Point Commissioner, William C. Wea said West Point is committed to ensuring that the government and its partners achieve the target numbers within the 5-day duration because the issue of COVID-19 is everyone’s business and not the government alone.
He added that community engagement during the time of the pandemic in the country is cardinal and as the Commissioner, he will ensure that his office offers support from community to community to help the MCHT and its partners achieve, as he proposes on taking the lead in doing his test voluntarily.
Earlier, the IRC Country Director, Faith Akovi Cooper said her organization is a humanitarian organization with a crisis response mandate therefore; they are very committed to the Liberian government by working closely with every community in-ensuring aimed at eradicating COVID-19 out of the country.
Mrs. Cooper added that the IRC has realized that not only one entity, community or the government alone can defeat the pandemic, and therefore urged everyone citizen to team up with commitment to ensure the safety and security of each other as well as families and communities, alluding, “Because if one is affected, an entire family will be at risk like in the case of the EBOLA Epidemic.”
Giving the overview of the voluntary testing, the MCHT County Health Officer, Dr. Yatta Warpoe lauded the IRC, giz and other donors for the initiative, and emphasized that most of the country’s COVID-19 cases are asymptotic and as such, the voluntary testing is very timely for the people of West Point and the country at large.
In separate remarks, the WHO, AFENET, Last Mile Health, UNICEF, USCDC, NRC, UNDP, as well as the MoH representatives all lauded the IRC, giz and the Liberian government for the initiative – stating that it was timely during this critical time in the country, while at the same time pledged their various institutions fullest support towards the project.