Editing Liberia (section)

=== Health ===
{{Further|Health in Liberia}}
[[File:Life expectancy in Liberia.svg|thumb|Development of life expectancy]]
[[List of hospitals in Liberia|Hospitals in Liberia]] include the [[John F. Kennedy Medical Center (Liberia)|John F. Kennedy Medical Center]] in [[Monrovia]] and several others. [[Life expectancy]] in Liberia is estimated to be 64.4 years in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?end=2020&locations=LR&start=2020&view=bar |title=The WorldBank: Life Expectancy ranks |access-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804235643/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?end=2020&locations=LR&start=2020&view=bar |url-status=live }}</ref> With a fertility rate of 5.9 births per woman, the [[maternal mortality]] rate stood at 990 per 100,000 births in 2010, and 1,072 per 100,000 births in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unfpa.org/sowmy/resources/docs/country_info/profile/en_Liberia_SoWMy_Profile.pdf |title=The State of the World's Midwifery 2011: Liberia |work=United Nations Population Fund |access-date=August 2, 2011 |archive-date=December 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206210251/http://www.unfpa.org/sowmy/resources/docs/country_info/profile/en_Liberia_SoWMy_Profile.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Maternal health gets a new boost in Liberia |url=https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2017/7/feature-maternal-health-gets-a-new-boost-in-liberia |access-date=2022-12-12 |website=UN Women – Headquarters |date=July 17, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212173610/https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2017/7/feature-maternal-health-gets-a-new-boost-in-liberia |url-status=live }}</ref> A number of highly communicable diseases are widespread, including [[tuberculosis]], [[diarrheal diseases]] and [[malaria]]. In 2007, the [[HIV]] infection rates stood at 2% of the population aged 15–49<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.AIDS.ZS/countries |title=Data: Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 15–49) |publisher=The World Bank |access-date=February 23, 2011 |archive-date=June 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629102325/http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.AIDS.ZS/countries |url-status=live }}</ref> whereas the incidence of tuberculosis was 420 per 100,000 people in 2008.<ref name="profile">{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/gho/countries/lbr.pdf |title=Liberia: Health profile |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=February 23, 2011 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220210455/http://www.who.int/gho/countries/lbr.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Approximately 58.2%<ref>{{cite news|title=Female genital mutilation (FGM)|url=https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029201427/http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 29, 2010|agency=World Health Organization}}</ref> – 66%<ref name=UNICEF2013p27>[http://www.unicef.org/media/files/FGCM_Lo_res.pdf UNICEF 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405083031/http://www.unicef.org/media/files/FGCM_Lo_res.pdf |date=April 5, 2015 }}, p. 27.</ref> of women are estimated to have undergone [[female genital mutilation]].

Liberia imports 90% of its rice, a staple food, and is extremely vulnerable to food shortages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irinnews.org/IndepthMain.aspx?InDepthID=72&ReportID=77811 |title=Liberia: Nurtitional "crisis" in Monrovia |date=February 23, 2007 |publisher=Integrated Regional Information Networks. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |access-date=February 24, 2011 |archive-date=October 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016172049/http://www.irinnews.org/indepthmain.aspx?InDepthID=72&ReportID=77811 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2007, 20.4% of children under the age of five were malnourished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MALN.ZS/countries |title=Data: Malnutrition prevalence, weight for age (% of children under 5). The |publisher=World Bank |access-date=February 23, 2011 |archive-date=May 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522050449/http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MALN.ZS/countries |url-status=live }}</ref> Liberia has a high level of hunger and food insecurity<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Hunger Index Scores by 2024 GHI Rank |url=https://www.globalhungerindex.org/ranking.html |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Global Hunger Index (GHI) - peer-reviewed annual publication designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels |language=en}}</ref>

Approximately 95% of the country's healthcare facilities had been destroyed by the time civil war ended in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=60788 |title=Liberia: Breathing Life into ailing healthcare system |date=September 2006 |publisher=Integrated Regional Information Networks. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |access-date=February 24, 2011 |archive-date=September 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910203141/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=60788 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, government expenditure on health care per capita was US$22, (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=22|start_year=2009}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) <ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.PCAP/countries |title=Data: Health expenditure per capita (current US$) |publisher=World Bank |access-date=February 23, 2011 |archive-date=June 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609191024/http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.PCAP/countries |url-status=live }}</ref> accounting for 10.6% of total GDP.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.TOTL.ZS/countries |title=Data: Health expenditure, total (% of GDP) |publisher=World Bank |access-date=February 23, 2011 |archive-date=June 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609021820/http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.TOTL.ZS/countries |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2008, Liberia had only one doctor and 27 nurses per 100,000 people.<ref name="profile"/>

In 2014, an [[2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak|outbreak of Ebola virus]] in Guinea [[Ebola virus epidemic in Liberia|spread to Liberia]].<ref>{{cite news |first= Alphonso |last= Toweh |date= March 30, 2014 |title= Liberian health authorities confirm two cases of Ebola: WHO |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-liberia-ebola-idUSBREA2T0ON20140330 |work= Reuters |access-date= March 30, 2014 |archive-date= September 24, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924195329/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/30/us-liberia-ebola-idUSBREA2T0ON20140330 |url-status= live }}</ref> {{as of|2014|November|17|df=US}}, there were 2,812 confirmed deaths from the ongoing outbreak.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/17/how-liberia-might-have-beat-ebola.html |title=How Liberia (Might Have) Beat Ebola |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=November 17, 2014 |access-date=November 17, 2014 |last1=Haglage |first1=Abby |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054112/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/17/how-liberia-might-have-beat-ebola.html |url-status=live }}</ref>