Liberia Health system: Little Rebecca Gonkpein dies with her dream

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Little Rebecca Gonkpein (Photo: OK FM)

A 9 year old girl who was suffering from chronic heart disease for whom OK FM launched an SOS called has finally died, the station has said.

 

Little Rebecca Gonkpein and her father appealed to the public for help but was too late.

She was a resident of Banjor located on the Hotel Africa Road was pronounced dead at the JFK Memorial hospital upon arrival late Thursday night.

Morris Gonkpein, father of Rebecca told OK FM that his daughter was underwent severe pain on a daily basic before her death.

Mr. Gonkpein said the girl condition started after she dreamt and was told by a lady to kill her parents but she refused. 

He however quotes little Rebecca as saying her refusal to agree with the woman’s decision to kill her parents led to the woman beating her with a spoon on her side in the dream.

Gonkpein narrated that since the dream his daughter has been sick with a heart problem that resulted to her death Thursday night.

On Thursday September 19, 2019, OK FM dedicated its morning broadcast to raise funds for her treatment  amounting to $1,000.00 USD and several thousand Liberian dollars.

Little Rebecca who was a 3rd grade student said she wanted to become a banker.

Poor health system

Liberia sits 4th place on the world poorest countries list.

The country has since recovered from 14 years of civil unrest almost 15 years ago  but the majority of the population still lives below the international poverty belt with life expectancy much lower than the world average.

Communicable diseases are widespread, including tuberculosis; diarrhea, malaria, HIV, and Dengue.

In 2009, government expenditure on health care per-capita was US$22, accounting for 10.6% of total GDP. In 2008, Liberia had only one doctor and 27 nurses per 100,000 people.

The country was ill-equipped to handle the outbreak of Ebola in 2014 and 2015 that killed more than 4,000 people.

Liberia’s health system remains challenged as medical facilities lack proper equipment to properly cater to chronic diseases.

 

 

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