By Fatu Kamara with New Narratives Summary In October, as part of World Sight Day celebrations, Liberia’s National Eye Health Program made an exciting announcement: an ambitious program by the unit housed in the Ministry of Health promised to deliver badly needed help to Liberian students struggling with poor vision. The program was to screen…
By Gloria Wleh with New Narratives SINJE, Grand Cape Mount County – Asata’s war experience would make anyone cry. In 1996, when she was 22 years old, Asata says a group of five older rebels from the ULIMO K faction gang raped her. She was left emotionally and physically scarred. Before the rape Asata dreamed…
Since the end of the civil conflicts in 2003 there has been no comprehensive assessment of the state of Liberians mental health. But experts say there is no doubt that at least a million of us are suffering.And as Liberia begins the process to hold accused perpetrators to account in a war crimes court, experts…
By Gloria Wleh with New Narratives Liberia’s Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute have expressed concern over a rapid increase in mpox cases in neighboring Sierra Leone. The country has reported a total of 2,634 confirmed mpox cases and 14 deaths, marking a significant increase since the country’s first cases were identified…
Three young men are dead after sleeping inside a locked store on Camp Johnson Road, in central Monrovia. As Tetee Gebro tells us police say an investigation is ongoing, but health experts warn the men may have died from deadly indoor air pollution. New Narratives’ Tetee Gebro reports from Montserrado County for Okay FM. This…
Liberia’s stalled Public Health Bill has revived debate over abortion. One former lawmaker and advocate for the bill says it would make abortion available for life saving emergencies such as ectopic pregnancy complications, fetal malformity and mental illnes. Joyclyn Wea reports in this social media Video. To read more about this story click this link: https://frontpageafricaonline.com/health/liberia-former-legislator-and-abortion-advocate-says-public-health-bill-is-not-abortion-on-demand-but-live-saving-measure/…
Across Africa, a new malaria drug for newborns and young infants is being hailed as a breakthrough, one that could save tens of thousands of lives each year.The medicine is already approved in eight African countries. But in Liberia, where malaria remains one of the leading killers of children, health officials say it may take…
By Tetee Gebro, New Narratives health correspondent Summary: SWAKAMORE, Monrovia – Here in this community on the outskirts of the capital, silence has replaced laughter. On Friday morning, three young men from the community, who had been preparing to paint a store, were found dead after sleeping inside the enclosed space. The store, in Camp…
By Joyclyn Wea, New Narratives health correspondent Summary When a pregnancy turns dangerous, doctors do not always have time to debate words. Liberian pharmacist and former politician Joseph Somwarbi told a recent workshop in Monrovia that abortion opponents have taken advantage of the issue to score political points at the cost of thousands of Liberian women’s…
A breakthrough malaria drug now approved and rolling out in eight African countries offers new hope for saving infants’ lives after years without an age-appropriate treatment, but Liberia risks being left behind as experts urge faster regulatory action to close the treatment gap in a nation still battling one of the region’s highest malaria burdens…
Summary: · Health experts are urging swift regulatory approval for “Coartem Baby”, a groundbreaking new malaria drug for infants under six months, warning delays could cost lives. · Liberia continues to battle one of Africa’s highest malaria burdens, with nearly one million cases and an estimated 3,500 deaths in 2023 — most among children under…
Medical Experts are raising a warning saying more and more people are staying sick because the medicines meant to kill harmful germs that cause malaria, diarrhea and other dangerous illnesses —aren’t working anymore.The reason? Many Liberians are using antibiotics and other powerful drugs the wrong way, and that misuse is making these medicines weaker and…
Liberia is debating a bill that would allow abortion up to 14 weeks—a change experts say could put the country among the most liberal in sub-Saharan Africa.The House of Representatives approved the bill in 2022, but it’s stalled in the Senate.As Joyclyn Wea finds in this collaboration with New Narratives, the delay has left many…
By Gloria Wleh with New Narratives Summary: • Many Liberians are misusing antibiotics, antiparasitic, antifungal and antiviral drugs without prescriptions, creating what experts call “superbugs” – infections that are resistant to commonly available drugs. • Families are spending hundreds of U.S. dollars on ineffective treatments as superbugs lead to prolonged illnesses and hospital stays, with…
By Joyclyn Wea, senior reporter with New Narratives D. was 18 and had just entered the 12th grade in 2017 when she discovered she was pregnant. Like all teenage students, ambitious for a successful future – in her case as a banker – she feared having a baby would end her dreams. She also feared…
By Augusta S. Lafalay with New Narratives Summary: · Liberian mothers face a hidden postpartum depression crisis, with cultural stigma, spiritual beliefs, and lack of diagnosis leaving many to suffer in silence. · Experts warn that inadequate screening and minimal funding are undermining maternal mental health, destabilizing families and worsening outcomes for children. · Survivors…
In rural Liberia, Nancy Howard’s dream of journalism faded after 9th grade. With no local school, she turned to farming—now 25, a mother of three, working her family’s sugarcane field….
A report accuses Bridge International Academies of financial opacity and conflicts of interest in Liberia’s education system. Former officials’ involvement sparks outrage as stakeholders demand audits, reforms, and greater transparency….
When Amelia Nyanamah entered the eighth month of her pregnancy her village midwife advised her to go to the nearby maternal waiting home for a safer delivery. The 38-year-old mother of four had already made the arduous 10-kilometer trip by foot from her remote village to the Lugbeyee Clinic waiting room when she gave birth to her fourth child in 2020. She thought she knew what to expect….
Countries across Africa are on guard as a more severe strain of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, has killed 1000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and sickened more than 30,000….
Junior cries to his mother as another stranger approaches the front of their house. The two-year-old has met too many new people since he came down with mpox in August….
