THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

News of the Government’s pronouncement of a flat rate US$5,000 death benefit for health workers who lost their lives in the fight against Ebola and the Turkish Government’s donation to the Paynesville City Corporation are among stories dominating our summary of today’s local dailies.

DOMINANT STORIES

US$30m Hazard Pay For Health Workers

The Government of Liberia has reached an understanding with public health workers throughout Liberia to settle their hazard pay and death benefits which is in the tone of US$30 million for the next six months. This was disclosed by Finance and Economic Planning Minister designate Amara Konneh yesterday during a press conference held at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Monrovia. For hazard pay, Min. Konneh said supervisors received at Ebola Treatment Units (ETU) will receive US$850 monthly above the regular pay, Doctors will receive US$825, ETU Managers and General Practitioners in the ETUs will get US$450. Nurses, Laboratory Technicians and all those who fall within the same grade will receive US$435 as hazard pay. Case Investigators, social workers and ambulance drivers will receive US$350 above their regular pay and allowances. Hygienists and logisticians working in health care facilities will get US$300. Drivers, contact tracers and security will receive US$250 as hazard pay and Data Officers will be paid US$75 above their regular salary. Min. Konneh also announced that Medical Doctors who are not working in ETUs will also benefit US$350 monthly as hazard pay. Pharmacists, Intern Doctors, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Midwives, Technicians, Mental Health Clinicians, Practical Nurses, Laboratory Technicians, Environment Health Technicians and social workers who are not dealing with Ebola related cases or ETUs will all receive US$300 as hazard pay for the next six months while non-clinicians will receive US$75 a month. Min. Konneh also disclosed that death benefits for all health workers will be a flat rate of US$5,000 to be given to families of fallen health workers, reports the INSIGHT newspaper.

Related Captions: GoL Reaches Deal With Health Workers(Daily Observer), Healthcare Workers Smile(New Democrat), Health Get US$ 5,000 Benefit(The New Dawn)

Turkey Donates To Paynesville City

Efforts aimed at strengthening economic cooperation between the Government of Turkey and the Republic of Liberia continued to reap success with the donation of two compact dumb-trucks and one hundred garbage bins to the Government of Liberia for use by the City of Paynesville. Although the cost of the trucks and garbage bins were not made know, but Lusinee Kamara Honorary Consul General of Turkey disclosed that Turkey was gratified to render assistance to the people of Liberia. Consul Kamara explained that Turkey Finance and Development Agency provided the trucks and garbage bins based on the submission of a project plan by the Mayor of the City of Paynesville. Receiving the donation, Paynesville City Mayor Cyvette M. Gibson lauded Turkey for coming to the aid of Paynesville City. She said the donation made by Turkey will be remembered by the people of the city. She disclosed that in 2013 an MOU was signed between the city of Istanbul and municipalities in Liberia. The agreement she said was geared towards the development of Liberian municipalities, by cities of Turkey, the FOCUS newspaper reports.

Related Captions: For Donation of Trucks, Others: PCC Boss Extols Turkish Government(Heritage), Turkey Donates Trucks, Garbage Bins(Daily Observer), Turkey Donates Trucks to Paynesville City(The News)

Ebola Turns Over 3,700 Children To Orphans

According to the INSIGHT newspaper, at least 3,700 children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone who have lost one or both parents to Ebola this year face being shunned, the UN has said. Carers were urgently needed for these orphans, UNICEF said. A basic human reaction like comforting a sick child has been turned "into a potential death sentence", it added. The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 3,000 people have died of Ebola in West Africa - the world's most deadly outbreak of the virus. The fear surrounding Ebola is becoming stronger than family ties. The figure on the number of Ebola orphans follows a two-week assessment mission by the UN children's agency to the three countries worst-affected by the outbreak.

Related Captions: 3,700 Ebola Orphans Shunned(New Democrat), Ebola Outbreak: ‘Thousands OF Orphans Shunned’(MICROSCOPE)

OTHER STORIES

Nonessential Liberian Gov't Employees To Remain Home With Pay

According to FrontPage Africa newspaper, the Government of Liberia has extended the decongestion measure at all public institutions by requesting all non-essential government employees continue to remain at home with full pay and benefits, until otherwise instructed. According to an Executive Mansion release, during the period, non-essential government employees are strongly encouraged to engage in community-based awareness and cleanup exercises aimed at preventing and halting the further spread of the deadly Ebola virus disease in Liberia. The government is also thanking all public servants, especially those at the forefront of the fight against Ebola, for continuing to deliver essential services to the Liberian people.

Gains Reversal: Foreign Minister Tells Un General Assembly

Liberia’s Foreign Minister Augustine Ngafuan says much of the progress achieved by the Ellen Johnson-led government may have already been reversed because of the impact of the deadly Ebola outbreak. Addressing the 69th Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York Monday, Minister Ngafuan lamented that Ebola has made Liberia a sad story amid dark clouds which have befallen the nation in the midst of a menacing virus. The Minister recalled that only a year ago, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf addressed the body on a positive note highlighting significant achievements in the past and lofty aspirations for the future. But today he said the country is being consumed by Ebola. “Today I have become the purveyor of a different kind of story – a sad story. Over the past six months, a dark cloud has been hanging over the Liberian landscape such that instead of reporting on economic growth, we are constrained to report economic decline.” The Minister averred that implementation of virtually all pillars of Liberia’s Agenda for Transformation (AfT) has been placed on hold, and gains are perhaps already being reversed.  “Instead of devoting attention to regional integration through facilitation of power and transportation projects, we are now talking about regional cooperation to deal with a deadly enemy. The “market woman” who traded goods and services across borders a year ago is now constrained to remain within the borders of her country and suffer the consequences of economic inactivity”. Today’s reality, the Minister, noted is a far cry from a year ago when Liberia had just celebrated ten years of peace in August 2013; and, in spite of some challenges, was still registering remarkable progress on the path of socioeconomic development.  “The country had transitioned from the emphasis on stabilization to a focus on transformation within the framework of a long-term development agenda christened “Vision 2030”, writes the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Malaria Causing More Deaths - Ngafuan

The New Dawnnewspaper writes that Liberia’s Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan says the country has been left with inadequate resources, time and personnel to attend to other routine illnesses like malaria, typhoid fever and measles, thereby causing many more tangential deaths. Addressing the UN General Assembly on Monday, 29 September in New York, the Foreign Minister said Ebola has killed 1,800 victims with nearly 3,500 infected here, despite measures taken by government, including a state of emergency, suspension of schools and involving all stakeholders into the anti-Ebola fight.  “We have also committed and will continue to commit significant portions of our own paltry resources to the fight,” said Mr. Ngafuan. He told the world body that cumulatively, women, constituting a majority of Liberia’s health workforce and being the main caregivers in the nation’s deeply traditional society, have been disproportionately affected. “Sadly, as Ebola widens its deadly circumference, it is creating a trail of traumatized orphans across the country, which includes that ten-year old kid from Barkedu, Lofa County, who is the last person standing in a family of twelve,” he said. With 89 deaths out of 182 health workers infected with Ebola, Mr. Ngafuan said the resultant panic has… precipitated the closure of many health facilities across the country due to fear among health workers. “As we and our many international partners struggle to douse the wildfire caused by Ebola, we have been left with inadequate resources, time and personnel to attend to other routine illnesses like malaria, typhoid fever and measles, thereby causing many more tangential deaths,” he said.  He said Liberia’s public health system which totally collapsed during years of conflict and was being gradually rebuilt, has relapsed under the weight of the deadly virus. Additionally, the former Finance Minister of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s first term, Mr. Ngafuan said on the economic front, the crisis here has occasioned a 3.4% downward slide in economic growth, from a high of 5.9% to a low of 2.5% in 2014.

Govt. Places Emphasis On Safe Burial Practices

Assistant Health Minister for Preventive Services, Tolbert Nyenswah, says government is placing emphasis on safe burial practices to prevent further spread of the Ebola disease. He also said health authorities should do more to prevent health workers from getting infected with the Ebola virus as well as formulate measures to transport infected or suspected Ebola patients. Nyenswah made the statement Monday at the Ministry of Information daily Ebola update held in the conference hall of the Ministry when he outlined four stringent measures necessary to break the chain of transmission and contain the Ebola virus. He said burying people suspected to have died of the virus is the responsibility of burial teams and not relatives or community dwellers, emphasizing that people should not venture into taking the risk, especially when they are not trained to do so. The Assistant Health Minister then urged Liberians to temporarily suspend traditional burial rites that are causing more people to get infected with the virus, the INSIGHT newspaper writes.

Related Caption:  Gov’t. Places Emphasis On Safe Burial Practices(Heritage Newspaper)

Ellen wants More Ebola Facilities Built

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has said the construction of more facilities to enhance the fight against the Ebola virus and prevent it from spreading remains paramount. She said this was part of a national Strategy presented to the chanber at the Capitol Building Monday, according to Presidential Press Secretary Jerolinmek Piah, Heritage reports.

Related Caption: Pres. Sirleaf Wants More Ebola Facilities Built(FOCUS)

U.S. Defense Delegation On Assessment Mission

A member of a joint visiting USAID delegation from the United States Department of Defense says the delegation’s visit has brought unique capabilities to support Liberia in its fight against the Ebola virus. Michael Lumpkin, the Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Department of Defense expressed gratitude to the Liberia people through the Minister of National Defense, Brownie Samukai for the warm hospitality accorded him and his delegation yesterday when the delegation paid a courtesy visit at the Ministry of Defense, reports the Inquirer Newspaper.

Related Caption: “We have Not Come With Fixed Solution”…US Assistant Secretary of Defense(The News)

300 Cuba Doctors For Ebola

The New Democrat newspaper reports that Cuba says it will send nearly 300 more doctors and nurses to West Africa to help fight the Ebola epidemic. The Cubans will work in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, Regla Angulo, head of the Cuban medical relief agency, said in a statement on Friday. The announcement means that up to 461 Cuban medical personnel would have been sent to help address the epidemic spreading across West Africa.  Angulo said the staff were currently undergoing intense training ahead of their deployment, working in a mock field hospital of the kind they expected to find in the region. Cuba's decision comes as health experts from 16 European countries urged their governments to massively scale up manpower and resources to fight the Ebola epidemic, now threatening "the entire world". European countries should urgently send trained medical staff, field laboratories, protective clothing, disinfectants and basic tools such as electricity generators, 44 public health professionals and academics wrote in The Lancet medical journal. 

UNMIL Approves US$22.9K For Ebola Task Force…In Grant Bassa

The United Nations Mission in Liberia has approves a cash donation of US$22,965 and assorted items for the Grand Bassa County Task Force to aid in the fight against the Ebola virus.  The News newspaper quotes the Acting Spokesman of the County Ebola Task Force; Eddie Williams as saying that of the amount, US$18,370 has been given to the Task Force in Cash and kind. Mr. Williams said US$7,150 will be distributed among the seven districts in the County for a period of two months for community awareness and US$1500 will be given to five Community Radio Stations.

MOE To Train 10,000 Ebola Awareness Campaigners Nationwide

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has embarked on the training of over 10,000 education stakeholders to carry out Ebola awareness in the 15 political sub-divisions of the country. Disclosing this during a press briefing at the Ministry of Information Tuesday, the Assistant Education Minister for Early Childhood Education, Felicia Doe-Somah, said the ministry will collaborate with the Health Ministry to help train teachers and principals who will carry out vigorous awareness against the Ebola virus. She indicated that the United Nations Children Fund, World Health Organization and Save the Children are providing support for this initiative being undertaken by the Ministry of Education. She urged the public to embrace the trainers in their various counties to help prevent further spread of Ebola.  She pointed out that when schools reopen, the Ebola awareness campaign will continue on the various campuses to ensure that students and teachers have a safe environment for learning after the eradication of the disease from Liberia. The Assistant Minister further disclosed that the MOE will begin the process of learning by radio program on several stations across country. She noted that this will provide the public the basic understanding about the function and activities of the ministry to strengthen the education sector in Liberia. Madam Somah clarified that the Ministry of Education has no power to decide when schools will re-open without the central government giving the directive through the Health Ministry, inks the INSIGHT newspaper.

Related Caption: MOE Embarks On Nationwide(In Profile Daily)