First Girl of Liberia Appointed Maternal and Neonatal Well being Champion: 2024 World Well being Day Commemoration in Liberia

Monrovia, April 9: The First Girl of the Republic of Liberia, Madam Kartumu Y. Boakai, has been appointed because the Maternal and Neonatal Well being Champion for Liberia. This necessary announcement was made throughout the in-door occasion held on the Ministerial Complicated in Congo City, marking the height of Liberia’s commemoration of World Well being Day 2024, which additionally climaxed the yearlong celebration of WHO 75^th anniversary marketing campaign.

World Well being Day, noticed globally on April seventh, serves as a platform to lift consciousness on urgent well being points, advocate for common entry to high quality healthcare, and promote wholesome life. This years’ celebration below the theme “My Well being, My Proper”, emphasised the elemental human proper to well being and referred to as for collective motion to deal with the social determinants of well being.

Dr. Clement Peter, the World Well being Group (WHO) Consultant, reiterated WHO’s dedication to championing well being rights for all and emphasised the significance of common entry to high quality well being providers, training, and secure residing circumstances. He underscored the necessity for political will, accountability, and ample funding to uphold the appropriate to well being, which is commonly marred by challenges resembling discrimination and stigma.

“Populations struggling marginalization and different vulnerabilities endure essentially the most, together with individuals residing in poverty, the aged, and folks residing with disabilities. Everybody deserves entry to high quality, well timed, and applicable well being providers with out being subjected to discrimination or monetary hardship,” acknowledged Dr. Peter.

He referred to as upon the federal government to make significant investments to scale up major healthcare, guarantee transparency and accountability, and meaningfully interact people and communities in decision-making round well being.

Talking on the occasion, Dr. Louise M. Kpoto, the Minister of Well being, emphasised the importance of the theme “My Well being, My Proper” and reaffirmed the federal government’s dedication to making sure common entry to high quality healthcare. Dr. Kpoto highlighted the Ministry of Well being’s dedication to partnering with stakeholders to strengthen the healthcare system and tackle disparities in entry to well being providers.

“Ladies mustn’t die whereas giving start; allow us to safeguard the lives of girls and newborns in Liberia. Well being isn’t a commodity; it’s a Proper. The precise to well being isn’t transferable,” emphasised Dr. Kpoto.

She reiterated the federal government’s dedication to enhancing entry to healthcare providers, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas, guaranteeing inexpensive well being providers, and establishing group insurance coverage scheme packages.

In a daring transfer to sort out maternal and neonatal well being challenges in Liberia, Dr. Kpoto unveiled Madam Kartumu Y. Boakai because the Champion for Maternal and New child Well being Marketing campaign in Liberia. As well as, the Chairperson of the Well being Committee on the Senate, Honorable Dabah M. Varlipah, was introduced because the Co-champion for Maternal and New child Well being. This dynamic duo will present the mandatory political traction and mobilize monetary assets required to help interventions to scale back the excessive maternal and new child mortality in Liberia, whereas advocating for improved healthcare infrastructure and providers.

Accepting her position because the Maternal and New child Well being Champion, Her Excellency, the First Girl of the Republic of Liberia, Madam Kartumu Boakai, emphasised the urgency to deal with preventable deaths affecting moms and their newborns in Liberia. She expressed her solemn responsibility and fervent ardour to steer a motion in opposition to maternal and new child mortality, calling on all stakeholders to affix arms on this endeavor. Along with her position as Maternal and New child Well being Champion, Madam Boakai introduced the launch of the Ladies’s Coalition for Reproductive Well being and Rights. This coalition is dedicated to empowering girls and ladies and can concentrate on maternal well being and entry to fashionable household planning strategies.

“The variety of deaths amongst moms and infants should not mere numbers however are echoes of anguish which are alarmed in our communities. Each mom has a reputation, and each new child has a heartbeat. A baby’s future is extinguished earlier than it even begins,” acknowledged Madam Boakai.

Madam Boakai’s appointment comes at a essential juncture as Liberia grapples with alarmingly excessive maternal and neonatal mortality charges. She shared heartbreaking tales of households affected by these tragedies and underscored the necessity for concerted efforts to finish the cycle. She additional reaffirmed Liberia’s dedication to Common Well being Protection (UHC) and the institution of a Nationwide Well being Insurance coverage Scheme, guaranteeing that nobody is left behind in accessing important healthcare providers.

Throughout this yr’s commemoration of World Well being Day, the Ministry of Well being of Liberia with help from WHO, carried out a sequence of actions together with an HPV vaccination marketing campaign for cervical most cancers concentrating on schoolgirls throughout which over 148 eligible ladies acquired the HPV vaccine, the donation of wheelchairs and white canes to individuals residing with disabilities, a blood donation drive, and a panel dialogue on Feminine Genital Mutilation (FGM) and its implications on well being that introduced collectively over 100 stakeholders to deliberate on doable options to finish FGM and promote the appropriate to well being for girls and ladies in Liberia. All these occasions geared toward elevating consciousness on well being and the necessity to place well being on the middle of growth—well being providers ought to be accessible, every time and wherever wanted.