By Justice Randall Clarke
MONROVIA, Aug. 11 (LINA) – President George Weah has commissioned an investigation into potential breach of the health and administrative guidelines which direct the issuance of COVID-19 test results by the National Public Health Institute of Liberia – NPHIL.
The President, therefore, set up an investigation committee chaired by the head of the Liberia Medical and Dental Council, and comprising he Minister of Justice, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Country Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and the Country Representative of the World Health Organization.
It is expected to put NPHIL under the microscope to ascertain whether or not there have been
“systemic breaches in the reporting procedure of COVID-19 results and recommend actions meant to provide a solution.”
Consequently, President Weah suspended with immediate effect NPHIL Director General, Dr. Mosoka Fallah, for time indefinite for “ethical and professional, and administrative lapses.”
Fallah has been temporarily replaced by his deputy, Dr. Patrick Kpanyan.
Efforts made by the Liberia News Agency (LINA) to get a word from Dr. Fallah in the aftermath of his suspension as well as on the allegations did not prove successful.
There have been a number of allegations in recent weeks against health authorities by aggrieved individuals who were tested for the Coronavirus as part of the protocols on travels, according to the statement released by the Office of the President.
In a meeting with stakeholders, the President praised the work and commitment of health practitioners and frontline staff fighting the virus, but underlined that he will leave no stone unturned in his obligation to the health and wellbeing of Liberians.
The ordering of the probe by the President also followed the meeting he had on Monday (10 August) with main stakeholders within the health sector and international partners working with the government to eradicate the virus in Liberia.
