By Lincoln G. Peters
The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Health with funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) has kicked off a three-day brainstorming on COVID-19 After Action Review (AAR) symposium in Monrovia.
The initiative is aimed at examining the impact, challenges as well as Liberia’s preparedness and response in dealing with and handling public health emergencies using the COVID-19 experience as a case study.
The three-day COVID-19 After Action Review brainstorming meeting is ongoing at the E.J.S Ministerial Complex in Congo Town.
It brings together hundreds of county health officers (CHO) from the fifteen counties to access the AAR and develop a national compass that will be used to respond to public health emergency management.
The program was also graced by several partners including Dr. Amadous Alassane Cisse of UNICEF Liberia, and Madam Claudette Grant, New Country director of the United States Center For Disease Control (US CDC), among others.
The symposium began on July 17 and will continue on July 19 with the primary objective to improve future disease outbreak response based on documented lessons learned and best practices from COVID-19 preparedness and response.
Officially opening the AAR symposium, Acting Minister of Health Dr. Norwu Howard expressed excitement and appreciation to WHO for the continued collaboration and support.
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“I [would] like to take this time on behalf of the Minister Dr. Williamena Jallah to express our thanks and gratitude for the consistent diplomatic relationship and innumerable amount of assistance received from both our team and partners (WHO) before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We can’t pay you, but we want to appreciate you,” she stated.
She expressed hope that they will finalize these plans and that they will not be left undone but updated.
“This we anticipate that after here, it will help [the] community prepare for emergencies and institutionalize the prevention of public health disease by improving every sector.
Also remarking, Liberia’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francis Kateh thanked the participants for the turnout, stating that the After-Action Review plays a critical role in the public health emergency management sector.
Dr. Kateh pointed out that after review, the country has to be sincere within itself, looking at the things that it didn’t do right.
