Join us in an effort to help rebuild Liberia's health workforce in a sustainable manner! 

Shortage of Skilled Health Professionals in Liberia

In 2015, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by United Nations as a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

The World Health Organization (WHO) developed an SDG index threshold of 44.5 per 10,000 population as the minimum density of skilled health workers needed to achieve the SDG health targets based on several health indicators which encompass noncommunicable diseases, infectious diseases, and reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health.

Regardless of the definition used for skilled health professional density, Liberia is well below the SDG index threshold of 44.5 skilled health professionals per 10,000 population.

Consequences of the Problem

Low density of skilled health professionals correlates with poor health outcomes. 

Some examples from recent data in 2018:

  • Liberia’s life expectancy was 62 years for men and 63.9 years for women- 156th place in the world.

  • The under-five mortality rate (deaths under age 5 per 1,000 live births) of 72.77 deaths per live births ranked 23rd out of 189 countries.

  • The infant mortality rate (infant deaths per 1,000 live births) of 53.5 deaths per 1,000 live births ranked 17th out of 193 countries.

  • The trend has been favorable since the end of the civil war, thanks to the tireless efforts of our brothers and sisters on the ground, but these rankings are a sobering reminder that we still have a lot of work to do.

Underlying Causes

Death or Emigration

  • Emigration of professionals from all sectors in the 1970s - 1980s due to economcic decline

  • Death and emigration during the years of civil war (1989 - 2003)

  • Death during the Ebola virus outbreak (2014 - 2015)

  • Diaspora population is estimated at 500,000

 

Lack of Access to Training

  • Intermittent training during the years of civil year

  • Post war: inconsistent funding; insuffifient availability of faculty and infrastructure

  • Progress has been made: A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine graduated 17 students between 1999 and 2002, and 37 in December 2019. 

 

Insufficient Wages

  • No salary payments during the years of civil war

  • Lack of funding to put government health workers on payroll 

How Does Susu Health Foundation™ Tie Into This?

Our goal is to help rebuild the healthcare infrastructure of Liberia utilizing the incredible talents of our brothers and sisters at home in Liberia and abroad, and their networks, in a collaborative effort. After putting that dream on hold for many years, we landed on two questions which led to the establishment of Susu Health Foundation™ in October 2019:


If not you then, who? If not now, then when?™


This is a call to action for all. If you don’t step up to help, then who? If you (our community) is not deserving of quality healthcare, then who? If we don’t answer the call now, then when? Let’s use a variation of the “susu” model, which is common in Liberia where a group of people contribute money to a common fund from which members benefit on a rotating basis. Unlike a typical susu where only the investors benefit, with Susu Health Foundation™, the entire community benefits. Let’s donate our time and talents to Liberia’s healthcare for the benefit of all members of our community!