Buchanan -The National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) 2018 Annual Performance Review and Operational Planning for 2019 conference has kicked off in the Port City of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. This year’s annual performance review conference is being held under the theme: “Strengthening Public Health Practice in Liberia” and runs from March 4-6, 2019.
Over one hundred participants representing different institutions, including the 54th Legislature, the Ministry of Health (MOH), National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Riders for Health, etc. are attending the NPHIL’s 2018 Annual Performance Review Conference.
Speaking at the opening session, the Director General of NPHIL, Cllr. Tolbert G. Nyenswah, stressed the importance of the conference, as it sets the agenda for 2019 operations. Cllr. Nyenswah said “This meeting will highlight the Institute’s activities in 2018, including major achievements and challenges. Director General
Nyenswah praised partners working with NPHIL for the support to the Liberian public health sector.
Also speaking, Grand Bassa County Senator, Hon. Jonathan Kaipay, called on authorities in the health sector to critically look at the sector in order to ensure adequate response to the current challenges. Senator Kaipay called for a critical review of the free drugs system at public health facilities.
In remarks, the Country Representative of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Desmond Williams, called on participants at the gathering to ensure that the revision process leads to successful discussions. He wants the Government of Liberia to take the lead in terms of support to the health sector amidst the scale down of donor funding.
Similarly, the Officer-in-Charge of the World Health Organization, Dr. Mesfin Zebrekidan Zbelo, called for an operational health sector in Liberia amidst limited resources. Dr. Zbelo noted that this will require trained human resources, improved health facilities and logistics.
At the same time, Health Minister,
NPHIL says this year’s Performance Review Conference will cover summaries of major achievements and challenges of Institute, County Health Teams (CHTs) and partners, covering the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2018. It also covers NPHIL’s obligations under the International Health Regulations (IHR).
The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and One Health. The conference will examine the role of public health in the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development; identify priorities in relation to systemic and national transformation goals and decide on the most appropriate mechanisms for improving the public health system and well-being.
The successful implementation of NPHIL’s goals calls for improvement in standards at all levels of planning and implementation to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the public health system. The objective of this conference is to provide a forum for the Institute and its’ partners to review and discuss 2018’s activities implementation and its added value in building a resilient health system.
The four-day session will offer opportunities to review the overall progress, performance of the Institute and respond to stakeholders’ growing demands for transparency, accountability, improved demonstration of results and evidence of lessons learned through real-time prioritization and performance corrections.
The deliberations will also focus on shared innovative, sustainable, scalable, models and best practices for public health sector reforms, identify and prioritize key objectives for the healthcare system in the short-term (1-2 years); and set targets for 2019 based on the Institute’s annual work plan.
The National Public Health Institute of Liberia was established in January 2017 following the 2014 unprecedented epidemic of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa, which highlighted the need for the establishment of a Public Health Institute in Liberia to support National Health Service delivery as part of plans to revitalize health services in the country.
NPHIL collaborates with the Ministry of Health (MOH) in strengthening existing infection prevention and control efforts, laboratories, surveillance, infectious disease control, public health capacity building, response to outbreaks, monitoring of diseases with epidemic potential, clinical and biomedical research among others.
Day one of the Annual Performance review Conference brought together Members of the 54th legislature, NPHIL, Ministry of Health, line Ministries, Agencies as well as development partners.