Sundberg Health and Capacity Development Initiatives

01/12/2025

I encourage everyone to know their status. Getting tested is not just knowledge, it’s protection, it’s empowerment, it’s self-love. The life you save could be your own.

Today on World AIDS Day, let’s choose awareness over fear, care over stigma, and compassion over silence. HIV is real, but so is hope, so is treatment, and so is dignity. Protect yourself, support each other, and never underestimate the power of knowing. ♥️

22/11/2025

Understanding HIV in Liberia: Why Testing Matters and How We Can Improve

Around 36,000 people are living with HIV in Liberia, and while this number may not seem very large at first, it represents a serious public-health challenge if we do not strengthen care, prevention, and community support. HIV is manageable when people know their status early, start treatment, and stay in care ,but this can only happen if testing is accessible and encouraged.

1. Why HIV Testing Matters:
Early testing saves lives. When people know their HIV status early, they can start treatment that helps them live long, healthy lives. Testing protects families. A person on treatment has a very low viral load, reducing the chance of spreading

Testing prevents HIV to partners or children. Testing strengthens communities. When more people get tested, we can better prevent new infections and build healthier communities.

2. What the Research Shows

During my master’s studies, I did a thesis titled “The Determinants of HIV Testing in Liberia,” using data from the 2013 Liberia Demographic and Health Survey (LDHS).
The research found several important issues:
• Many people lack access to HIV testing services.
• Some communities still face stigma and fear around HIV.
• There are gaps in public awareness, especially in rural areas.
• Socio-economic factors, education levels, and gender differences influence whether someone decides to get tested.

These findings show that increasing HIV testing requires more than just offering services , it requires education, trust, and community support.

3. What Liberia Needs to Improve

To strengthen HIV prevention and care, Liberia can focus on:
. Making testing easier and closer to home like having Mobile clinics, community outreach, and door-to-door testing to improve access.
. Community education and awareness: When people understand HIV and know it can be treated, more feel safe to get tested.
Reducing stigma: strong laws needs to be created to reduce stigma , encouraging open conversations and supporting people living with HIV , this will help create safe spaces for testing.
Supportive youth and women groups : These groups often face the biggest barriers and need targeted education and services.
Using research to guide action
Studies like mine help identify where the gaps are and what solutions are most effective.

Where to Find the Research

My thesis is publicly available.
If you or anyone else would like to read it, simply search online for:
“Courage Sundberg HIV testing in Liberia ”

04/11/2025

Medical research has established that excessive alcohol intake significantly increases the risk of developing not only cirrhosis of the liver, but also a range of other serious diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and depression.

Prolonged and heavy alcohol consumption can cause brain damage, leading to conditions such as epileptic seizures, dementia, and other neurological disorders.

Alcohol consumption raises both heart rate and blood pressure, and it also heightens the risk of various cardiac arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation.

Moreover, alcohol increases the risk of cancer in several organs. There are well-established links between alcohol consumption and cancers of the mouth, throat, liver, breast, and colon.

Alcohol is also known to elevate the risk of liver cancer and is a common cause of fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis.

The likelihood of developing depressive disorders rises sharply with high alcohol consumption, and it is a contributing factor in nearly half of all suicides.

Alcohol is detrimental to your health. Say no to alcohol.

02/11/2025

Have you heard about the Good Samaritan Law?

The Good Samaritan Law is a legal protection designed to encourage people to help others in emergency situations without fear of being sued if something goes wrong.

The Good Samaritan Law protects individuals who give reasonable assistance to someone who is injured, ill, or in danger. The law assumes that the helper (the “Good Samaritan”) is acting in good faith and without expecting payment.

The purpose is to make sure that bystanders or healthcare professionals don’t hesitate to help someone in need out of fear of legal consequences.

To be protected under the law:
1. The help must be voluntary (you are not legally obligated to act).
2. You must act in good faith — trying to help, not to harm.
3. You must not be grossly negligent or act recklessly.
4. Usually, it applies outside of your professional duty (for example, if a nurse helps someone on the street, not while working in the hospital).

For an example ,if you are walking down the street and see a person collapse. You start CPR before the ambulance arrives.
Even if the person dies or gets injured in the process, the Good Samaritan Law protects you as long as you acted responsibly and with the intention to save their life.

In Sweden for an example, there isn’t a specific “Good Samaritan Law” by name, but the principle exists. According to Brottsbalken (Swedish Penal Code) 23 kap. 6 §, it can be considered a crime not to help someone in life-threatening danger if you can do so without risk to yourself.
So, ethically and legally, healthcare professionals in Sweden are expected to assist , both because of professional duty and human obligation

02/10/2025

My take on what are contributing factors to Hypertenson or high blood pressure in Liberia

Factors that contribute to high blood pressure in Liberia

1. Diet / eating habits
In West Africa, studies show that high salt intake, red meat, saturated fats, processed foods and alcohol are strongly linked to hypertension.
Low intake of fruits and vegetables increases risk. Liberia’s national health profile also lists unhealthy diet as a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

2. Lifestyle & psychosocial factors
less physical activity, more sedentary time increases hypertension risk.
Chronic stress, psychosocial strain, and economic pressure can also elevate blood pressure.

Low income and poor working conditions are well-known social determinants of hypertension risk.

3. Poverty, access to care and structural issues
Poverty limits access to healthy foods (cheap, nutrient-poor food may be more available) and to healthcare for diagnosis and treatment.
Lack of screening and weak health systems mean many cases of high blood pressure go undetected or untreated.

There is no single cause. It’s a combination:
Diet (especially salt, fat and processed food) is a clear contributor.
Lifestyle (stress, inactivity) adds to the problem.
Poverty and weak health systems amplify both risk and poor control.

21/09/2025

Know the signs of sepsis , not every cold or headache is an ordinary flu

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/i-thought-freshers-flu-nearly-35930364?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=main&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR4Y5Tdmq4dtxzZXzb5MB9Y_vgJmQyoMYJC8LmY-rSV6EAhu8wIhJdcocKvZwQ_aem_uQJVS5TNSm13MmVHf_vJFw =1758285207

Aspiring model Ketia Moponda had her legs and fingers amputated with doctors forced to cut rotting flesh from backside after it was discovered she had meningitis

04/09/2025

New outbreak of Ebola confirmed

The DRC’s health ministry has officially declared a new Ebola virus outbreak in Kasai Province. The outbreak involves 28 suspected or confirmed cases and 15 reported deaths, including four healthcare workers.

The Index case / patient Zero was a 34-year-old pregnant woman who became ill around August 20 and died on August 25. Cases are concentrated in the Boulapé and Mweka health zones. The cause has been confirmed as the Ebola Zaire virus.

03/08/2025

13/07/2025

A Painful Reminder: Why African Leaders Must Prioritize Healthcare

Once again, we are reminded of a painful truth: power is temporary, and life is fragile.

Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has died not in his own country, but in a hospital in the United Kingdom. A man who led one of Africa’s biggest nations died far from home, treated by a health system he did not build for his people.

When African citizens cry out for better healthcare, too many leaders turn a deaf ear. They fly abroad for medical treatment while millions die at home from preventable conditions. They invest in luxury, not in life. They forget that true leadership means building systems that serve everyone, not just the privileged.

Buhari once had all the power. He had the budget. He had the authority. He could have transformed Nigeria’s health system. But now he is gone, and all the money, titles, and security guards mean nothing.

Moral lesson? Life is short. We came with nothing, and we will leave with nothing.

So why not use the time in power to do good? Why not be kind? Why not build hospitals that ordinary citizens can trust? Why not serve people with integrity and fairness?

No African should have to die because healthcare is a privilege only for the rich. A just society is one where access to healthcare is a right, not a favor.

Let this be a wake-up call to all leaders: invest in people, not palaces. Build hospitals, not monuments to ego. One day, even you will need care. And when that day comes, may it be in a system you helped build, not one you fled to.

24/06/2025

SHECDI Mental Health Awareness Statement

Let’s Talk About It ,Mental Health Matters.

We at Sundberg Health Capacity Development Initiative (SHECDI) are deeply saddened by the loss of a young Liberian brother, Clinton Zorkor, who allegedly took his own life following emotional struggles tied to a relationship breakup.

Clinton’s story is not just about heartbreak. It reflects a much larger issue, the silence and stigma around mental health in African communities.

Too often, we see signs of depression, emotional fatigue, or behavioral changes in our loved ones, yet we remain quiet, unsure, or unwilling to talk about it.

Mental health is real. It affects our thoughts, emotions, relationships, and actions. When ignored, it can have devastating consequences. Clinton may have been struggling with undiagnosed mental illness, and the emotional weight he carried became too much to bear alone.

At SHECDI, we are calling on every African household, every community, and every youth group to break the silence.

Let’s create safe spaces to talk about mental wellbeing.

Let’s normalize asking for help from a friend, a professional, or a support group.

Let’s check in on each other and truly listen.

Let’s educate ourselves and others that mental health is just as important as physical health.

Talking about mental health can save lives.
Let Clinton’s story not be in vain. Let it be the beginning of a new culture, one of compassion, openness, and healing.

If you’re struggling, please remember that you are not alone. Your voice matters. Your life matters.

With compassion,
SHECDI
Building health, hope, and healingtogether.