Last week, partners from across Liberia came together for the validation of the country’s integrated Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS) strategy—a groundbreaking step toward ensuring women and girls affected by this long-neglected disease are no longer invisible.
Led by the Ministry of Health, and supported by Effect Hope and our partner Unlimit Health, this multisectoral strategy builds on years of learning from our previous work in Liberia and the pilot study in Bong and Nimba counties. The new national strategy builds on that evidence, creating a sustainable pathway to prevention, early detection, and integrated care.
This marks the first time FGS has been formally recognized and positioned within a national health system.
Integrated strategies like this one give health leaders and frontline providers the clear and practical direction they need to deliver consistent, high‑quality care. By outlining how awareness, prevention, screening, diagnosis and management fit together, and by embedding FGS within existing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services, the strategy becomes a clear guidebook for coordinated, person‑centred care.
Liberia’s National FGS Strategy also outlines the systems that make integration sustainable, including reporting processes, referral pathways, supply chain considerations, and strengthened health information tools. In a context where FGS has often gone unrecognized, this unified framework brings structure, alignment and a shared path forward.
It’s in this context that Minister of Health Dr. Louise M. Kpoto’s words from the opening of the validation workshop resonate:
“We cannot work without guidance; we need something to hold onto. That’s why we’re here today.”
With Liberia’s National FGS Strategy validated, it is time to turn policy into action.
The team will begin identifying the essential tools, systems, and national mechanisms needed to bring the integrated strategy to life.
National tools, training curricula, and Health Management Information System (HMIS) indicators will be refined to equip health workers for effective FGS screening, diagnosis, and care.
This will lead into piloting integrated services in select counties, including prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, referral pathways and community engagement activities to generate evidence for national scale up. At the same time, efforts will continue to sustain political and financial commitment by reinforcing multisectoral coordination, improving reporting systems and contributing to a national investment case that secures long‑term financing. Through this work, Liberia is strengthening its position as a global leader in addressing one of the most neglected but devastating diseases affecting women and girls. From there, efforts will expand to ensure that every woman and girl at risk of FGS, no matter where she lives, can access the prevention, diagnosis and treatment she deserves.
