Afrigather 
Bomi, November 8, 2022: On the public hospital in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, the Liberian authorities has commissioned yet one more new medical oxygen plant. The commissioning ceremony, which came about on November 8, 2022, was patronised by county representatives from the Authorities of Liberia, the Ministry of Well being, US Mission and USAID, and the World Well being Group (WHO).
Dr. Clement Lugala Peter, the Nation Consultant for the WHO in Liberia, gave a quick background of the plant and made emphasis that, COVID-19 presents an awesome public well being problem to the already fragile and weak well being care methods in lots of creating nations. He added that many international locations already had challenges with medical oxygen provide earlier than COVID-19, and the surge of the pandemic worsened the unhappy state of affairs – placing extreme strain on the healthcare methods, which noticed hospitals run out of oxygen, growing the variety of fatalities, and Liberia was not spared.
“The illness put immense strain on the well being system, leading to extra deaths from extreme types of COVID-19 and different preventable and unrelated COVID-19 deaths. Certainly, the scarcity of oxygen was extra pronounced and had devastating penalties on the well being end result—our dilemma in Liberia was not totally different,” stated Dr. Peter.
In his concluding remarks, Dr. Peter emphasised that getting access to dependable medical oxygen is throughout the confines of the rights to well being, fairness, and leaving nobody behind. The plant will certainly help in enhancing the well being methods in Bomi, Gbarpolu, and Cape Mount counties, that are house to over 300,000 individuals, and it serves as one of many vital devices to mitigate the impression of COVID-19 in Liberia.
In settlement, america (US) Deputy Chief of Mission in Liberia, Mr. Joel Maybury, stated that following the COVID-19 pandemic’s inception, it was clear that the oxygen provide in Liberia was a transparent hole within the response. The US authorities supported the GOL to extend its oxygen provide and respiratory assist capabilities, and this Bomi plant is one prime instance of investments which have unleashed new capacities within the well being sector that weren’t out there when the pandemic started.
“The US is proud to be a part of this nice funding. As we mark this vital second, we’ve got extra causes to affix Liberia in celebrating a significant well being sector achievement, because it is without doubt one of the first international locations in all of Africa to have achieved the WHO goal of totally vaccinating 70% of its inhabitants, now at 77%”, stated Mr Maybury.
The US authorities has been a key companion within the COVID-19 preparedness and response, and Mr. Mayburg additional reaffirmed the US authorities’s dedication to supporting the well being sector in Liberia.
The COVID-19 pandemic, in accordance with Liberia’s Well being Minister Dr. Wilhemina Jallah, was a studying expertise for all the world. She stated the populace of Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, and Gbarpolu counties will profit from the development of the oxygen plant in Bomi County. She additional made a plea to the County Well being Staff in Bomi County to proceed to encourage those that haven’t but obtained their vaccination to take action.
Talking on behalf of President George Manneh Weah, Justice Minister Hon. Frank Musa Dean stated that the federal government of Liberia has a robust dedication to making sure the well being and well-being of its residents and that it’s conscious of the hyperlink between financial productiveness and a wholesome inhabitants as healthcare and financial development are intertwined underneath the Professional-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Financial Growth.
He applauded the WHO, the US authorities, and the American individuals for offering the funding for the development of the oxygen plant.
Making a private reflection, Minister Dean recalled his personal terrifying COVID-19 battle in April 2020, when the pandemic had simply begun and little was recognized in regards to the virus.
” I used to be positioned on oxygen for 14 days, and I then realised that to breathe freely is a luxurious. My pals right here and overseas made efforts to supply oxygen for me, with others going throughout to Abidjan, and I used to be grateful to have obtained the dear commodity and recovered. I then considered the bizarre individuals,” narrated Minister Dean.
He went on to say that this made him consider the typical individual, as he himself used numerous oxygen cylinders on the time he was battling with the COVID-19 virus. He then resorted to personally procuring oxygen for public use. He believes that the plant will probably be an ideal aid to the residents of Bomi, Gbarpolu, and Cape Mount counties.
The PSA oxygen plant, put in by WHO with funding from the US authorities by USAID, has the capability to provide 31 cylinders of oxygen a day. Along with procuring and putting in the oxygen plant, WHO has additionally supported the Ministry of Well being in erecting the constructing that’s housing the plant and secured a 1-year service contract for the plant with its provider. Moreover, 4 biomedical technicians have been educated to function and preserve the plant, and lastly, there was a provision of standby generator gasoline for 4 months, as efforts are underneath option to hyperlink it to the nationwide grid.
That is the second inauguration of a PSA medical oxygen plant with assist from WHO, following the commissioning of Liberia’s largest plant at Star Base in October this 12 months by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Liberia, Dr. George Manney Weah.
