Monrovia - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there any particular health concerns? What is the quality of available medical care? What medical conditions typically require medical evacuation?
There is the Aspen clinic, which is a private medical clinic that I hear is pretty good, but quite expensive. It is run by expats. The Liberian hospital is called JFK Hospital. If you have any significant medical condition, you'll need to be evacuated. - Oct 2021
Malaria is here and if you work for the embassy they will issue you pills. Medical conditions as a whole are poor but they are getting better. If you need any sort of surgery you will be medevacked. The real concern is that because there are limited flight in and out evacuation is not always a real option. - Aug 2019
Medical care not great in-country. However, we did use a local dentist. We medevac for all appointments related to pregnancy. Most take the option of medical evacuation when its approved by the health unit. - Aug 2019
It is best to be faithful taking your malaria prophylaxis. Local health care is not of reliable quality. Aspen Clinic is the best place to go in case of emergency. A Regional Medical Officer (RMO) is posted at the Embassy and will take care of Embassy officers and families. Medevacs are common. The dental clinic at ELWA Hospital is the only place to have your teeth cleaned or to go for a dental emergency. European dentists are often rotating through there. - Aug 2019
Malaria, take the pills. There is a private health care provider who can cope with quite a bit (certainly they can replace a dislocated shoulder) and evacuate for those they can't. We have experience with them and the doctors and nurses were great. - Nov 2017
Available medical care is not ideal and medical and dental evacuations are common for fairly routine issues. The embassy community benefits from an on-site medical unit. Non-embassy expats require private insurance and often visit Aspen Medical, a private provider in Sinkor. - Jun 2016
Ebola seems to be over in Liberia, although it's still present in Guinea and Sierra Leone as of this writing. Malaria is extremely common. Typhoid can also occur. Only bottled, boiled or distilled water is safe to drink. Produce should be disinfected with vinegar or a bleach solution, especially if you don't plan on cooking it before eating it. Foodborne illnesses and gastrointestinal complaints are common, although most of the big hotels and restaurants catering to expats do a fairly good job with the food (there are occasional failures). Health care in general is abysmal. Spurious and counterfeit drugs are common. Bring a good supply of over the counter and prescription drugs with you. Non-U.S. government expats should have medevac insurance. There is one subscription service clinic that I know of that caters to expats, and the USG, UN, and larger NGOs and multinationals often provide their own medical services to employees. - Aug 2015
Malaria is real. Diarrhea is frequent. The clinics and hospitals are dismal. I hear from a friend doing medical work that you can't trust the local labs, they make fake reports. You have to leave for anything more than an x-ray. I wouldn't stay overnight in a hospital here. Better to go to a friend's house and work on getting air fare out. Buy travel insurance that will get you out of here if you get sick. - Dec 2013
We have a nurse practitioner on staff, but anything major, such as a broken bone or major sickness, needs to be medivac'd. - Dec 2012
Medevac for anything serious. Don't get sick and you will be fine. Colleauges of mine came down with bouts of malaria and typhoid. - Aug 2010
Medical care is almost non-existent. Our embassy health unit provides general medical care, but anything else (even an ongoing stomach ailment) requires medevac to London. Don't come here unless you are healthy and take care of yourself. - Jul 2009
