It is becoming apparent that Liberia’s health sector might dwindle if care is not taken to address the controversy between the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) and the Ministry of Health as the two institutions fight for control. At the fourth edition of the Emmett A. Dennis National Scientific Conference on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, NPHIL Director General, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan sent a strong warming to the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Dr. Louise M. Kpoto days after the Health Ministry issued a press release on suspected case of Viral Hemorrhagic fever pathogens (VHF) which include Ebola and Marburg virus in Nimba County, a disclosure NPHIL said was a lie.
Speaking in a tough tone at the scientific conference, Dr. Nyan frowned, “We don’t work by emotions. We don’t work by bureaucratic interferences of what one thinks to be.”
“I can assure you, as I have said repeatedly and with the guidance of the president of this country, who stands on integrity, honesty and against corruption, the National Public Health Institute, and under my guidance, will not give the public results that are not existing,” he assures.
He said looking at the way things are going between NPHIL and MoH, he is not sure if the fate that befell the former NPHIL boss, Dr. Musaka Fallah, will be the same the same fate that may befall him. Dr. Nyan indicated that under his watch, NPHIL will not be used for the commercialization of outbreaks.
“The National Public Health Institute of Liberia, under the guidance of the Africa CDC and other partners, will also not be used to monetize outbreaks and to affect the health and life of the people. When we cut the recent EBD scale, we immediately arrested the situation as a public health entity. Where it came from, where the information came from that circulated in the public, we did what we could, and with the science and the technology, we detected that there was no viral hemorrhagic fever detected in the samples that we took from the dead body that was brought to the Liberian soil,” Nyan spoke in an angry mood.
According to our reporter who attended the opening of the conference, the Minister of Health, Dr. Louise M. Kpoto was not in attendance or any representative from MoH. As Dr. Nyan was speaking, some of his confidants had to whisper to him to slow down his tone. The absence of the Health Minister or her representative signals emerging trouble in the health sector.
