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Monrovia is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the nation's primate city, Monrovia is the country's economic, financial and cultural center; its economy is primarily centered on its harbor and its role as the seat of Liberian government.
Roberts International Airport, informally also known as Robertsfield, is an international airport in the West African nation of Liberia. Located near the town of Harbel in Margibi County, the single runway airport is about 35 miles (56 km) outside of the nation's capital of Monrovia, and as an origin and destination point is referred to as "Monrovia". Locally, it is often referred to as simply "RIA." The airport is named in honor of Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first President of Liberia.
The Antoinette Tubman Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Monrovia, Liberia. It is used mostly for football matches although it has also been used for music concerts, major church events, political rallies and Ebola treatment. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators and is the oldest stadium in Liberia.
Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Civil wars have killed around 250,000 people and displaced many more. The wars ended in 2003 but destroyed most of the country's healthcare facilities. Recovery precedes proceeds, but the majority of the population still lives below the international poverty line. Life expectancy in Liberia is much lower than the world average. Communicable diseases are widespread, including tuberculosis, diarrhea, malaria, HIV, and Dengue. Female genital mutilation is widely practiced. Nearly a quarter of children under the age of five are malnourished and few people have access to adequate sanitation facilities. In 2009, government expenditure on health care per-capita was US$22, accounting for 10.6% of totaled GDP. In 2008, Liberia had only one doctor and 27 nurses per 100,000 people. It was ill-equipped to handle the outbreak of Ebola in 2014 and 2015.
The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in Western Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The first cases were recorded in Guinea in December 2013; later, the disease spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone, with minor outbreaks occurring in Nigeria and Mali. Secondary infections of medical workers occurred in the United States and Spain. In addition, isolated cases were recorded in Senegal, the United Kingdom and Italy. The number of cases peaked in October 2014 and then began to decline gradually, following the commitment of substantial international resources.
Cyvette M. Gibson is the tenth Mayor of Paynesville, Liberia. She was appointed as acting Mayor on November 14, 2012; the youngest mayor in the country. Her administration faced an Ebola epidemic, persistent waste management issues, and human rights concerns.
An Ebola virus epidemic in Sierra Leone occurred in 2014, along with the neighbouring countries of Guinea and Liberia. At the time it was discovered, it was thought that Ebola virus was not endemic to Sierra Leone or to the West African region and that the epidemic represented the first time the virus was discovered there. However, US researchers pointed to lab samples used for Lassa fever testing to suggest that Ebola had been in Sierra Leone as early as 2006.
Patrick Oliver Sawyer was a Liberian-American lawyer who was notable for being the index case for the introduction of Ebola virus disease into Nigeria during the West African Ebola epidemic in 2014. Sawyer was a naturalized U.S. citizen who lived in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. He has been variously described as working for the Liberian Ministry of Finance and for the mining company ArcelorMittal as their national manager for public health. He was aged 40 at the time of his death.
An epidemic of Ebola virus disease occurred in Liberia from 2014 to 2015, along with the neighbouring countries of Guinea and Sierra Leone. The first cases of virus were reported by late March 2014. The Ebola virus, a biosafety level four pathogen, is an RNA virus discovered in 1976.
Thomas Eric Duncan was a Liberian citizen who became the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States on September 30, 2014.
Organizations from around the world responded to the West African Ebola virus epidemic. In July 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an emergency meeting with health ministers from eleven countries and announced collaboration on a strategy to co-ordinate technical support to combat the epidemic. In August, they declared the outbreak an international public health emergency and published a roadmap to guide and coordinate the international response to the outbreak, aiming to stop ongoing Ebola transmission worldwide within 6–9 months. In September, the United Nations Security Council declared the Ebola virus outbreak in the West Africa subregion a "threat to international peace and security" and unanimously adopted a resolution urging UN member states to provide more resources to fight the outbreak; the WHO stated that the cost for combating the epidemic will be a minimum of $1 billion.
This article covers the timeline of the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa and its outbreaks elsewhere. Flag icons denote the first announcements of confirmed cases by the respective nation-states, their first deaths, and their first secondary transmissions, as well as relevant sessions and announcements of agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders; medical evacuations, visa restrictions, border closures, quarantines, court rulings, and possible cases of zoonosis are also included.
Operation United Assistance was a 2014 United States military mission to help combat the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, including the part of the epidemic occurring in Liberia. The 101st Airborne Division headquarters was responsible for leading the mission.
The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa has had a large effect on the culture of most of the West African countries. In most instances, the effect is a rather negative one as it has disrupted many Africans’ traditional norms and practices. For instance, many West African communities rely on traditional healers and witch doctors, who use herbal remedies, massage, chant and witchcraft to cure just about any ailment. Therefore, it is difficult for West Africans to adapt to foreign medical practices. Specifically, West African resistance to Western medicine is prominent in the region, which calls for severe distrust of Western and modern medical personnel and practices.(see Ebola conspiracies below.)
Cases of the Ebola virus disease in Nigeria were reported in 2014 as a small part of the epidemic of Ebola virus disease which originated in Guinea that represented the first outbreak of the disease in a West African country. Previous outbreaks had been confined to countries in Central Africa.
The cinema of Liberia, or Liberian cinema, refers to the filmmaking industry in Liberia. Liberian cinema has played an important part in Liberian culture and in recent years has begun flourishing again after the civil war.
Salomé Karwah was a Liberian nurse who was named co-Person of the Year by Time magazine in 2014 for her efforts to combat the West African Ebola virus epidemic. She appeared on the cover of Time in December 2014 with other health care workers and colleagues working to end the epidemic. Karwah survived ebola herself, before returning to work with Médecins Sans Frontières to help other patients afflicted with the disease. The actions of Karwah and other health care professionals are believed to have saved lives of thousands. However, two years later, Karwah died from complications of childbirth; her widower suggested that this might have been due to the widespread, mistaken belief that ebola survivors can still transmit the virus. Even before the ebola outbreak, Liberia had one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world.
Trudie Lang is a Professor of Global Health Research at the University of Oxford. She specialises in clinical trials research capacity building in low-resource setting, and helped to organise the trial for the drug brincidofovir during the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak.
Events in the year 2016 in Liberia.
Events in the year 2014 in Liberia.
References
- 1 2 M., C. (28 February 2014). "A new image: A film festival aims to change how outsiders see the country". The Economist. Monrovia. Baobab. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Guilbert, Kieran (2 February 2016). "Movie therapy: entrepreneur helps Liberia heal from war and Ebola through film". Reuters. Monrovia. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ↑ "Women of Africa: Bringing art-house cinema to Liberia". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- 1 2 Freelon, Kiratiana (8 November 2017). "These Young Liberians Are Building an Arthouse Movie Theater". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ↑ "Kriterion: students restoring the glory of Liberia". Afrika News. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ↑ "Putting Ideas in Motion". Liberian Observer. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ↑ Konton, Julius (20 May 2018). "Kriterion Monrovia ends 2018 Europe Liberian film festival in grand style". KMTV News. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ↑ "The European Union Gives another Boost to the Promotion of Culture and Creative Industries in Liberia". European External Action Service. European Commission. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2019.