South Sudan

BREWERVILLE, LIBERIA: Aug. 22, 2017 - Wislyne S. Yarh Sieh is a registered nurse and Officer in Charge (OIC) at Kpallah Community Clinic in Brewerville. Wisylne worked as a healthcare worker during the Ebola outbreak in 2014-2015. Healthcare workers like Wislyne were left isolated and alone to fight this mysterious disease from the heart of the jungle. But, she, along with many others, continued to fight. "Being a nurse is like being a soldier. You cannot take your uniform off when there is battle. Then you are not a soldier. So I went on the frontline because I wanted to save lives," she remembers. The Ministry of Health did not have a centralized system to communicate vital information to healthcare workers across the country at the same time. UNICEF and USAID worked together to create a platform that utilized mobile phones to facilitate a two way communications system between healthcare workers and the centralized ministry. Because of this new technology, healthcare workers across the country can receive text messages with important information about health emergencies. They are also able to use their phones to inform the Ministry of Health about the status of stocks in the clinic. Since Ebola, Wislyne has started using the new platform and now feels more connected and informed. She says, "If this program just stopped without things being in place, it would carry our work backward. It would make my work longer and delay treatment of the patients." Photo by Sarah Grile. .

Global Health

September 20, 2021
Health is shaped far beyond the walls of hospitals and clinics. It's defined by the environments people live in, the food they eat, the safety they feel and the power they hold to influence decisions...