In continuous demonstration of United States-Liberia’s traditional and historical ties, the Government of America thru the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recently donated more than 430up-to-date nursing and midwifery textbooks to the Liberia Board of Nursing & Midwifery (LBNM) to help boost Liberia’s health service delivery.
Newly accredited United States Ambassador to Liberia, Michael A. McCarthy, who made the formal handover to LBNM authorities last week Friday, 5 February noted, “Our understanding of medicine is always improving. That’s why it is essential for medical students to have up-to-date textbooks. Nursing and midwifery affect some of the most vulnerable and precious among us: newborns and their mothers. With these 430 textbooks, the next generation of nurses and midwives can practice their craft confidently knowing they are equipped with the latest knowledge.”
Ambassador McCarthy’s emphasis is very critical to healthcare delivery anywhere in the world, particularly Liberia, where basic health services are still a challenge. Issue of having up-to-date relevant textbooks in our colleges and universities to properly prepare medical students, including nurses and midwives who are to provide efficient healthcare delivery cannot be overemphasized or ignored.
Trained and qualified health practitioners are ‘sine qua non’ to providing comprehensive healthcare services to the population of Liberia. Anything short of that could mean manning our hospitals and health centers with square pegs in round holes. News of preventable deaths at the hands of health practitioners, including midwives in the country basically derives from lack of adequate knowledge.
According to the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Ambassador McCarthy’s first public event on Friday, February 5, 2021 since his arrival in Liberia demonstrates the value the U.S. Government places on healthcare and critical front-line workers such as nurses and midwives.
We wholeheartedly welcome the donation and commend the U.S. Government for this important intervention in the Liberian health sector, which it has continuously done in line with historical ties existing between Liberia and America that has lasted over 100 years.
We also laud the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for making this gesture possible. As the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia noted via a press release, the Government of America supports internal medicine residency training and family medicine training, including in nursing and midwifery, via the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, commonly referred to as PEPFAR.
Now in its 18th year, PEPFAR supports antiretroviral treatment for nearly 17.2 million people living with HIV-AIDS globally – including in Liberia. It has also enabled 2.8 million babies to be born HIV-free to mothers living with HIV and has provided critical care and support for 6.7 million orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers so they can survive and thrive.
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It’s our hope that the Liberia Board of Nursing & Midwifery would make effective use of the textbooks in ensuring that nurses and midwives deployed across the country are up to the task in serving the public.
