Public Health Surveillance Officers across Liberia, including county, district and zonal surveillance officers, have threatened to halt all surveillance reporting starting Monday, August 11, 2025. These men and women have vowed to stop sending reports if their longstanding concerns are not addressed by authorities at NPHIL.
Before reaching this point, these surveillance officers, who addressed a press conference on Friday, August 8, in the park, which is a stone’s throw down the road from the NPHIL offices, said they were tired of chasing their bosses at NPHIL to address these concerns from October 2024 until now.
They listed their grievances to include, but not be limited to, unpaid operational support (OPS) arrears, unmaintained old motorbikes not worthy for field operations, inclusion to the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) payroll, and lack of health insurance.
“Despite multiple attempts to engage the leadership of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL)–via written communications, zoom meetings, in-person discussions, and private talks–no satisfactory resolution has been reached,” their spokesman said. According to them, most recently, on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, their leadership contacted NPHIL’s Director-General, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, through WhatsApp to request a meeting scheduled for August 8, 2025. They narrated that when they got to the NPHIL head office in Congotown, and after waiting several hours, they were denied an audience by both Dr. Nyan and the Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Dr. Ralph Jetoh.
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Following this alleged action from their bosses, these Disease Surveillance Officers issued a stern ultimatum on August 8, demanding immediate action from NPHIL. At an emergency meeting held in Monrovia the same day, the officers–representing county, district, and zonal levels–presented a list of demands. Key among these is the immediate settlement of OPS arrears dating back to October 2024, which they say has left them indebted and unable to carry out critical surveillance duties.
Other demands include:
·Immediate transition of County Surveillance Officers to NPHIL payroll
·Addition of remaining District and Zonal Surveillance Officers to the payroll,
·Retroactive OPS payments from October 2024 through August 2025
·Provision of vehicles/motorbikes for surveillance field operations
·Provision of logistics and financial support during public health emergencies
The officers emphasize that their work–central to identifying and responding to public health threats–is being done with minimal support, despite the significant risks it entails. They argue that the ongoing neglect by NPHIL leadership is severely undermining staff morale and weakening Liberia’s epidemic early warning systems
