The Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD) has called on the government of Liberia through the Ministry of Health (MoH) to provide both public and private health facilities with the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) as a means of protecting healthcare workers from falling prey to the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Addressing a news conference at his IREDD office July 19, in Monrovia, IREDD Executive Director, Harold M. Aidoo said that their investigation has revealed that over 42% of the country’s health facilities are without PPEs for healthcare workers amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Aidoo said that other health facilities with PPEs were only able to receive one supply/donation of PPEs from private persons, private organizations or government, indicating that private individuals and organizations’ donation account for 54% of all PPEs at health facilities within Montserrado County.
According to the IREDD ED. Aidoo, it has also been found that health facilities in the capital Territory of Montserrado County are ostensibly short of supply of PPEs due to infrequent supplies, and stressed, “Liberia has made efforts to mobilize revenue in the fight against the COVID-19.”
“As per our investigation, more than US$100 million has been received by the government either in the form of loans or grants from the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). How are these monies been applied to the fight against the pandemic in the country?” he asked.
Mr. Aidoo further stated that making maximum use of available resources by supporting every aspect of the National Preparedness and Response Plan will go a long way in ensuring that Liberia is ahead of the curve and sailing towards zero infection in the not-too-distance future.
He averred, “Both the MoH and NPHIL day to day implementation strategy seems not to be align with the Liberia COVID-19 National Preparedness and Response Plan, which calls for robust procurement and distribution of PPEs to health facilities across the country.”
Meanwhile, the IREDD Executive Director, Harold Aidoo has also called on the MoH and the NPHIL to also ensure that all health facilities throughout the country set aside and maintain an isolation center for suspected COVID-19 cases in order to avoid further spread of the virus.
Mr. Aidoo alluded, “That the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) also makes available to the public on a weekly basis, disaggregated expenditure on COVID-19 per spending entity, and that the Incident Management Team be empowered to improve on its rate of response to suspected COVID-19 cases.”