Ebola Stems Economic Growth in Liberia and Sierra Leone

A new report warns that years of economic progress and social development in Sierra Leone are eroding as the Ebola outbreak continues to spread across the West African nation. The report is from Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), among other partners.

After having emerged from a decade-long civil war, Sierra Leone was home to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies with a gross domestic product (GDP) that expanded 20 percent annually in recent years. The new report predicts a sharp decline in economic growth, down to 5 percent, and warns that academic setbacks from ongoing school closings will have long-term effects on the country’s workforce.

The news is no different in Liberia, where the price of some crops has soared 150 percent in recent months, businesses have shut down, and many social services have been interrupted.

Unfortunately this is not unexpected news. But it is a stark reminder of why Partners In Health has made long-term commitments to Sierra Leone and Liberia that will stretch long after the Ebola outbreak is stopped.

“Our Ebola response is an entry point to work closely with the governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone on a long-term plan to strengthen the health systems,” PIH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joia Mukherjee says. “This will be done by training the workforce, by improving the supply chain, by building needed infrastructure, and by hiring community health workers.”

The strain imposed by Ebola on the countries’ already-weak health systems has caused untold suffering and severely interrupted access to primary care. Eighty percent of people in Sierra Leone living with HIV have not been able to access their treatments, and “expectant mothers are dying at alarming rates in childbirth,” according to the UNDP.

Investments in health care create jobs, alleviate food insecurity, and help prevent against future epidemics that can crash an economy.

In Sierra Leone, we have already hired dozens of Ebola survivors to join us as community health workers. They are engaging their communities, educating their neighbors, and helping expand access to care. We know that investing in health care works.

“Never has it been clearer that health is integral to development,” Mukherjee says. “More money is needed to build strong public sector health systems. Investments in health care create jobs, alleviate food insecurity, and help prevent against future epidemics that can crash an economy.”

At the heart of our strategy are our longtime partners, the grassroots organizations Last Mile Health in Liberia and Wellbody Alliance in Sierra Leone. We’re working closely with these organizations to strengthen the delivery of primary care, whether it’s supporting a vaccination campaign or accompanying an expectant mother for prenatal care. We will seek out opportunities to deliver social support and look to create programs that address food security, job development, and education.

“We need to link a public health agenda with a social protection agenda,” Mukherjee says.

We know that building health systems is not only good for health, but it’s good for the economy. When we opened University Hospital in Haiti in 2013, a flurry of economic opportunities followed. Economists recently determined that for every $1 invested into University Hospital, $1.86 was pushed into Haiti’s broader economy, from health care workers buying egg sandwiches at local stands to taxi drivers picking up more fares.

University Hospital was a long-term vision that came to fruition through long-term partnerships. Our ambitions and commitments are no less great in Liberia and Sierra Leone.