27/10/2025
A Celebration of Hope and Awareness
- Liberia Celebrates First-Ever World Hydrocephalus and Spinal Bifida Day
Monrovia, – The Department of Neurosurgery at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center (JFK), in collaboration with the Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation (KBNF), celebrated World Hydrocephalus and Spinal Bifida Day for the first time in Liberia on Saturday, October 25, 2025.
The celebration brought together doctors, health professionals, families, and children affected by Hydrocephalus and Spinal Bifida, marking a new chapter in national awareness and care for neurological birth conditions.
Dr. Alvin Nah Doe, Liberia’s neurosurgeon and head of the Department of Neurosurgery at JFK, emphasized the importance of compassion, awareness, and collaboration.
“These children are human beings like ourselves and deserve special attention to grow up as any normal child in our country,” said Dr. Doe, highlighting the need to replace stigma with understanding.
In Liberia, children born with Hydrocephalus are often referred to as “Gina”, a term sometimes used with social stigma. Dr. Doe’s call for empathy and inclusion to educate the public and celebrate the resilience of affected children and their families.
Professor Dr. Peter Coleman of JFK’s Surgical Department reflected on the nation’s medical progress. “There was a time when Liberia had no neurosurgeon. Today, we thank God for Dr. Doe and Dr. Ballah, two brilliant minds leading the way, revealing that out of 4,600 babies delivered at JFK in the past, 46 were diagnosed with Hydrocephalus,” he said.
Dr. Coleman commended the tireless partnership between Dr. Doe and KBNF, noting that their work is “leaving a lasting footprint” in Liberia by helping children born with Spinal Bifida and Hydrocephalus receive timely medical care.
Representing KBNF, the organization’s Liberia liaison praised the decade-long collaboration with Dr. Doe, noting that the foundation has continuously raised funds to bring neurosurgeons from the United States and Europe to perform free surgeries for Liberian children.
Dr. Ian Wachikwa, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of JFK, expressed deep gratitude to KBNF for its unwavering support, pledging the hospital administration’s commitment to advancing awareness, early diagnosis, and quality treatment.
“We want to ensure that expectant mothers visit the hospital for early detection and intervention,” he said.
Dr. Aaron Cassell an Urologist a member of the Lion’s Club and Chairperson of the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC), called for inclusivity in medical and societal care.
“Children with Spinal Bifida and Hydrocephalus are special kids who need special attention. No single child should be neglected because of their medical condition,” he urged.
Adding a broader perspective, Dr. Kebede, an imaging specialist at JFK, emphasized that caring for affected children is a shared responsibility among all medical professionals not just neurosurgeons.
Gracing the program were members of the Lions Club, who have been supportive of various medical outreach initiatives. The event also featured moving personal testimonies, including that of a mother whose son was diagnosed with severe Hydrocephalus during the Ebola crisis in 2014.
Sharing a personal testimony, one of the mothers said, “At first, I couldn’t withstand the stares of people each time I passed by them in the hospital with my son. It felt like all eyes were on me,” she recalled. “My son was born in 2014, during the height of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Liberia. I didn’t know what had happened to my child,” she lamented. “However, I couldn’t neglect him or get rid of him.”
She explained that her son was first diagnosed at the JFK Medical Center by Dr. Doe as suffering from severe Hydrocephalus. Concluding her testimony, she said she has since launched a Facebook awareness campaign for children born with Spinal Bifida to educate mothers who might think their children are cursed by the ‘devil.’
