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The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has hailed Liberia on its declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Ebola-free.

He described the development as a giant progress in the fight against the Ebola Viral Disease (EVD).

President Mahama, who had played a leading role in the fight against the disease, posted on his facebook page last Tuesday: "Giant progress in the fight against Ebola. Congratulations Liberia, UNMEER & the 42 Ghanaian Health Volunteers."

Last Saturday, the WHO declared Liberia  free from the deadly disease after the country had gone the mandatory 42 days without any reported case.

The last confirmed death was on March 28, according to the WHO.

There has been celebrations in the capital Monrovia and other parts of the country since the declaration. 

Liberia had recorded the highest number of cases of the disease in West Africa.

Four thousand and sseven hundred deaths had been recorded since March last year with peak cases hovering between 300 and 400 a week.

UNMEER 
The UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), the first-ever UN emergency health mission, was established on September, 19, 2014.

This was after President Mahama announced at the 69th UN General Assembly in New York, USA, that he had agreed to make Accra the hub for the UN’s efforts in the fight against Ebola.

The UNMEER had since been planning, co-ordinating and directing the efforts of the UN agencies, national governments and other humanitarian players in the fight against the disease, to the three most affected countries. 

Volunteers 
Ghana's contribution to the success story in Liberia and the other countries had been considerable.

In December, 2014, 42 Ghanaian volunteer health workers left Accra for the three hardest-hit Ebola countries to help fight the disease.

They recently returned home safely and President Mahama praised them for their selflessness.

Ostracised 
Liberia, together with the two other most-affected countries, Sierra Leone and Guinea, were virtually ostracised by some countries and commercial flights to the countries were halted because of the disease.

President Mahama, who is also the Chairman of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, took steps to caution the world against abandoning the three countries when he personally visited the countries last year, and followed up with that significant statement in his address at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, that, " Ebola is not just a Liberian problem, Ebola is not a Sierra Leonean or a Guinean problem; it is not just a West African problem, Ebola is a problem of the world because it is a disease that knows no boundaries."

Although Liberia had been declared free from the disease, Sierra Leone and Guinea, which are neighbouring states, are still battling to free themselves although some level of progress had been made, a situation some believe  posed a threat to Liberia.