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Liberia: Maternal and Child Mortality Crisis Demands More Women as Community Health Assistants
The Aspen Institute, 4 May 2021
There’s no debating the impact of poor health on Liberian women. They have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, poor access to modern family planning… Read more »
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Liberia: Healing Liberia Foundation Launched With Emphasis On the Sick and Ailing
FrontPageAfrica, 4 May 2021
Seeing an unfortunate rise in sicknesses, especially among the less fortunate in Liberia, Benita Urey saw the need to jumpstart the Healing Liberia Foundation, she says is… Read more »
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Liberia: Life for African Mothers Boosts Maternal Health
FrontPageAfrica, 6 April 2021
In an effort to boost maternal health in the country, a non-for-profit charity organization, Life for African Mothers (LFAM) has boosted the country's maternal health by… Read more »
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FrontPageAfrica, 15 April 2021
The government of Liberia and its partners including UNFPA and the Swedish Government are celebrating the rapid decline in teenage pregnancy in Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Grand Kru… Read more »
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Liberia: River Gee County Records Low Maternal Deaths in 2020/21
FrontPageAfrica, 20 April 2021
River Gee County - Health authorities in River Gee County have told a visiting delegation comprising Swedish Ambassador to Liberia, Ingrid Wetterqvist, UNFPA Country Representative… Read more »
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FrontPageAfrica, 22 April 2021
Community Healthcare Initiative-CHI, a local NGO into health and advocacy Wednesday conducted a one-day consultative maternal health meeting in partnership with the Margibi Health… Read more »
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Liberia: UNFPA, Swedish Government Launch Sexual Reproductive Health Program in Sinoe County
FrontPageAfrica, 22 April 2021
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with funding from the Swedish government has extended its Sexual and Reproductive Health Program targeting adolescent boys and girls to… Read more »
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Liberia: Phebe MD Wants GOL to Reassign Doctors
New Dawn, 27 April 2021
Phebe Hospital Medical Director Dr. Jefferson Saybley is calling on the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Health to reconsider its decision and reassign doctors that… Read more »
Fixing Liberia's Maternal and Child Mortality Crisis
Liberia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with poor access to modern family planning methods for women who endure increasing levels of sexual and gender-based violence. Their children don't fare much better. The under-fives, especially newborns, suffer needlessly from illness and death due to common, preventable childhood illnesses.
The Ministry of Health launched its National Community Health Assistant Programme in 2016, with donor and NGO support. Community Health Assistants (CHAs) have been recruited from their communities, trained, equipped, supervised and paid a salary, to provide quality healthcare to the 28% of the population that lives more than 5km from the nearest health facility. Ultimately, the objective of the national programme is to provide quality care and improve lives of women and their children.
Now that the national CHA programme has reached all 15 counties, the lack of gender balance could create a crippling setback very soon. Without more women CHAs, it will be virtually impossible to harness gender-focused benefits. As the Ministery of Health and partners are reviewing the national CHA policy, it will be critically important to include statements of action promoting gender equality. And those statements must be backed up by resources for programmes to increase the number of female CHAs served by qualified women. Only then will the country make genuine progress toward improving maternal and child health, writes Marion Subah for The Aspen Institute.
