Monrovia – The National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) and the GIZ have begun the construction of a Centralized Health Care Waste Management Treatment Plant at Disco Hill in Margibi County.
According to a release, the Health Care Waste Management Treatment Plant, when completed, it will include an Ash Pit, renovation of the existing damaged incinerator, storage facility for waste before incineration, and hygiene center for disinfection and hand washing.
The Acting Director-General, Dr. Mosoka Fallah commended the GIZ for its continues support to Nphil and the health care delivery sector of Liberia. According to the Nphil Boss, the management and proper disposal of health care waste is an essential component of the health care system and help to minimize the spread of diseases, the release noted.
This latest project is part of several projects initiated by Dr. Fallah since his appointment as Acting Director General. Recently, a central Environmental Water Laboratory was dedicated. The Laboratory will now do water and food quality as well as chemical testing, the release pointed out.
The National Public Health Institute of Liberia has a statutory responsibility to prevent and control public health threats by promoting healthy outcomes and serving as a source of knowledge and expertise.
Those two counties have so far generated 104 contacts and are still being followed up. It is important to note that 59 are health workers.
Additionally, one new confirmed case was reported from Grand Bassa on October 28, 2019. The case is undergoing Ribavirin Treatment.
The Bong County response was a result of a successful collaboration among MOH, NPHIL, WHO, US-CDC and other partners in providing technical, financial, and logistical support to the County Response Teams.
From 1st January to 22 October 2019, a total of 120 suspected cases including 23 deaths have been reported. Of these, thirty-three (33) cases have been confirmed by RT-PCR (Nimba-8, Bong-13, Grand Bassa-9, Grand Kru -1, Margibi-1 and Montserrado-1).
The case fatality rate among confirmed cases is 33.3% (11/33). Males are mostly affected by the disease (52%) of confirmed cases as compared to females.
The release also disclosed that although Lassa fever is not new to Liberia, it is a deadly viral disease that we are closely monitoring through NPHIL Surveillance System requires urgent attention. The disease is spread by rodents or rats and through close contact with affected persons.
Therefore, MoH and NPHIL are advising people to take the following public health measures:
- Keep your environment clean;
- Cover your dishes to prevent rats ‘pu-puing or pee-peeing’ on them;
- Cover food in tightly-closed containers to prevent rats from playing in food or drinking water;
- Do not eat rats because you can get the sickness by coming in contact with their blood , ‘pee-pee or pu-pu’;
- Do not dry food in open places where rats can reach;
- Avoid body contact with affected persons and endemic zone; and
- Visit a health facility immediately when you feel sick, especially if you live in the Lassa endemic county
- If a malaria case is treated for 48 hours with no treatment, think Lassa
“We continue to improve our rapid response teams at county, district and community levels through the County Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) and to provide technical, financial and logistical support to the outbreaks,” the NPHIL release concluded.
