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Ebola - Communication and Media network

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Ebola - Communication and Media network

Saturday, Oct 25
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9 years 14 weeks ago

To The Health Communication Network within The Communication Initiative

From: Warren Feek

Please share your analysis and Initiatives: Ebola Communication and Media Action and Strategies

Best wishes. Ebola poses some significant challenges for media and communication strategies and action. In such circumstances peer review and critical support through an independent platform are vitally important. In support of everyone's work on this and other important health and development issues:

  1. If you are in a country presently affected by Ebola please do share (just email reply) some brief insights into the work you are undertaking, the challenges faced and the support required.

  2. If you are in a country not yet affected but undertaking preventative action please do the same if possible - insights into the work being done, challenges faced and support required.

Thanks - we very much look forward to facilitating this platform in support of everyone's work on this vitally important issue.

Warren

Ebola Response - India, Maharashtra

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative

Rajan Abraham - Anjanvel, District Ratnagiri, Maharashtra outlines strategic and programming insights related to Ebola. Please share your strategic assessment and programming initiatives in support of everyone's work. Just email reply to this note or click Read More below and comment.

"What’s Ebola? We Need A Crash Course as Virus Spreads - by Ketaki Gokhale and Kartikay Mehrotra Oct 16, 2014

Indian devotees throng the streets next to Hindu god Lord Ganesha during a procession... Not until weeks after the World Health Organisation declared Ebola an international emergency on Aug. 6 did doctors in Mumbai start preparing.

“Ebola? I heard about it one month back,” said Pramod Nagarkar, superintendent at the city’s Hinduhridyasamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Care Centre, which sent two doctors to attend a day-long crash course about the ABCs of the deadly virus. “They give training: what is Ebola, how it happens, what are the treatments, what are the precautions to be taken.”

The steep learning curve in the hospital that serves as Mumbai’s first line of defence underscores the risks in the developing world -- and especially India. Of the 10 dens est mega cities, five are in south Asia with a combined population that exceeds Germany’s. They face overburdened health-care facilities and thousands who have travelled to the viruses African epicentre for work.

“If it reaches India, it poses challenges unlike any other in the world,” said Temmy Sunyoto, a medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in New Delhi. “In Mumbai or Delhi, it just takes one patient to reach a hospital and with the state of the public-health facilities, I’m sure it would be very difficult to contain.”

While there have been no confirmed cases in India -- or anywhere in Asia -- the death of Ebola-infected Thomas Eric Duncan in Texas, as well as confirmed infections in two health workers who treated him, have accelerated preparations in the region. The worst-ever outbreak of the epidemic has killed more than 4,400, with its core in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia."

For further details please visit this link

In its 38 year history, Ebola has moved out of Africa for the first time.

The Public Health Centres in this part of Rural Maharashtra are not prepared or equipped to handle any case of Ebola. The Pune Centre for disease control, hopefully is.

Mumbai and other Metro cities are vulnerable. In Mumbai an Ebola isolation unit is planned at Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases near 'Saat Rasta'.

A control room has been set up at the Min of Health, New Delhi. The ND numbers are - 011-23063205/ 1469/1302.

The problem of a thorough lack of knowledge combined with lack of infrastructure and preparedness, and stark terrifying thought of the virus getting unleashed here.

Stay safe. Take care.

Rajan Abraham
Anjanvel, District Ratnagiri,
Maharashtra

Ebola Response - South Africa

To The Health Communication Network within The Communication Initiative

Sue Goldstein - Soul City introduces a South African Ebola initiative. Click Read More below to access the attachment to which Sue refers.

Hi Warren

We produced a pamphlet for school children (for the DoH) printed and distributed 11m (attached).

Great that the SA Dept of health is so proactive

Sue

Dr Sue Goldstein - Soul City
Programme Director
Soul City: IHDC
South Africa

Please share your strategic assessment and programming initiatives on Ebola in support of everyone's work on this vital issue. Just email reply to this note or click Read More below and comment.

Ebola - why special section?

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Shari Cohen - Social Change Consultant questions why there is a focus on Ebola. Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

Hi Warren,

I got this email, and even though I realize it's a mass mailing I have to ask...why jump to make a special section just for Ebola? Why aren't we looking at beefing up our communication and social change capacities under a banner of Emergency Responses, with Ebola being just one of many?

We, as a community, seem to run in the direction of any new/emerging emergency - Avian Flu, H1N1, Natural Disasters, now Ebola, something else will be along next as well, etc. etc. etc.

If instead of always focusing on a one-topic emergency, we focused on a set of rights based principles, processes and simple rights-based participatory tools that could be adapted to any topic area, wouldn't we - as a community - be better equipped for whatever comes next, no matter the topic?

Just something I was thinking about as I read the below and continue to see a plethora of Ebola-focused comms flowing to and fro....

All the best,

Shari Cohen
Senior Social Change Consultant

Why and How before Prescription

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Javed Ahmed proposes a focus on the why and how before prescriptive messaging. Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

I always believed that as health communicators we should not focus on prescriptive messages but on why, or how transmission of a disease takes place before recommending safe course of action. Such an approach prepares a well aware person to apply prescription intelligent.

Suppose we had educated people on how HIV is transmitted (as you know millions of dollars and for how long HIV/AIDS education campaigns have been going on), it would be much easier to create awareness of the transmission of Ebola virus. Because those already know that HIV is transmitted through exchange of bodily fluids, they can relate to the new message on how ebola is transmitted. (The difference is ebola virus is more viril and infectious. Even tiny germs in spit coming out of the mouth of a patient can enter the breadth of the nearby person. And cause infection. Similarly, the vomit and other secretions easily transmit virus to other unprotected persons such as care takers. Another difference is unlike HIV that can take years before converting into AIDS, Ebola virus takes only days to complete its deadly cycle. Hence the chance of survival of ebola infection is fifty-fifty.

If we do not educate communities in ebola stricken areas properly, the epidemic will be hard to control. Patients can be frightened to look at the care takers wearing protective gear, whereas they won't be frightened if they know why such unusual protective gear is used.

I hope you understand this fine distinction in awareness raising campaigns. Chances are educational efforts will not be in the fore front of the fight against ebola any way. In short, as communicators if we relate ebola education with HIV it is likely to be understood faster than if is stand alone.

Javed Ahmed

A South African Approach to the Prevention of health epidemics

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Brian Julius - Speaking Books outlines a A South African approach to the prevention of health epidemics. Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

Every year, NGOs, international donors, and government health departments spend billions of dollars on health care education in developing and third world countries. The vast majority of these projects fail.

Too often the initial reaction to health issues like Polio outbreaks, Malaria, and now Ebola is First World in its thinking – let’s put equipment in the hospitals and clinics, let’s send vaccines, let’s send medication. In developing countries (Africa in particular) is convincing outlying, largely illiterate and often war-torn populations, that they can be empowered to take action for their health and trust donors’ solutions. When Bill Gates was asked what was his greatest failure was, he responded that he thought developing new vaccines was the answer, when in fact the uptake was very low because the local population had not been educated or convinced.

Low levels of literacy mean that many health education outreach programmes are inaccessible or inappropriate to rural, uneducated or disadvantaged communities. Health education booklets, pamphlets and workshops are severely limited in their reach due to community literacy, access, financial concerns and volunteer teams. In many regions, civil wars make going into an area dangerous or inaccessible.

The Speaking Book is a specifically created educational tool designed to effectively impart vital health information to low literacy and under-resourced communities. Developed in South Africa by a local NGO, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, the Speaking Books have been shown to be replicable and sustainable, and have been developed on multiple topics, in various language, for distribution in over 30 countries, on such critical health care issues as HIV and AIDS, Malaria, TB, Clinical Trials, Substance Abuse, Maternal Health, Safe Medicine, Mental Health, Suicide Prevention, Dementia, Government Grants, No Smoking and Immunization for Pneumonia, Rotavirus and Polio

The most recent book, launching on the 24th October in Abuja, Nigeria, was created in collaboration with UNICEF and Rotary for End Polio Now (funded by the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation). UNICEF’s Community Mobilisers will be armed with the Speaking Book (15 000) to use as a communication tool to reach at risk communities. According to UNICEF, each VCM visits on average 100 households, with the potential that 15,000 Speaking Books will impact 1.5 million people. The books have been recorded in Hausa and English, approved by the Muslim leadership and dispel many of the myths surrounding Polio.

Recent research on the Maternal and Newborn Health Speaking Book in Ethiopia (published in the World Medical Journal) showed that the Speaking Book helped health workers gain entry into communities, improved trust and acceptance by members of the community, and increased vaccinations of newborn babies – and each book was shown to a minimum of 120 new mothers.

With the massive outbreak of Ebola, the Speaking Book is the ideal tool to disseminate accurate information to those at risk and help communities respond accurately and appropriately to the threat of Ebola’s spread. In areas with such a high threat of contagion, the Speaking Book is a tool that can be used safely and effectively – without putting care workers at risk. Visit www.speakingbooks.com for more on this innovation.

“We shouldn't forget that this is a disease of poverty, of dysfunctional health systems - and of distrust," says Peter Piot, the scientist who in 1976 discovered and named the Ebola virus. - For this reason, information, communication and involvement of community leaders are as important as the classical medical approach, he argues.

The Speaking Book is an innovative and powerful tool that works with communities to gain trust and help them take responsibility for their own health. People with low levels of literacy and health literacy find the Speaking Books non-threatening, educational and offer reliable health messages. This is an interactive educational tool to create awareness and instruct low literacy communities. The Speaking Books understand and promote the power of education by enabling people to live healthier and more productive lives.

Brian Julius - Speaking Books

and Zane Wilson Founder of SADAG, South Africa

Ebola and other diseases - ESRC STEPS resource

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Nathan Oxley - ESRC STEPS introduces a resource centre for Ebola and other animal-to-human diseases. Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

Dear Warren,

Thought I’d let you know about a resource established by the ESRC STEPS Centre on Ebola and other animal-to-human diseases.

Roughly speaking it brings together a set of documents & articles, underpinned by theoretical insights as well as work on the ground with affected communities, on how the spread of Ebola and other similar diseases are affected by social and environmental factors – like attitudes to the disease, institutional responses, environmental/ecosystem change and how these things reinforce or interact with each other. Prof Melissa Leach, director of the Institute of Development Studies, and Prof Ian Scoones, ESRC STEPS Centre director, have been major contributors to the resources.

The resources include newspaper articles, blogposts, books, academic publications and events. The aim is to build up a set of insights to inform responses to Ebola which take into account social dynamics and local people’s perspectives on the disease, and draw lessons for future responses to other outbreaks and epidemics.

Please let me know if you need more information or have any questions on this.

Nathan Oxley - ESRC STEPS

Emergency Responses, Ebola and Technology

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

I am the Editor of Soul Beat Africa and partly responsible for sourcing and uploading communication and media related content on Ebola and emergency responses for the Ebola theme site and the Soul Beat Africa website.

I wanted to share with you three summaries related to the use of technology and social media in emergency responses,which can now be found on the Ebola theme site http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/category/sites/global/ebola :

Humanitarianism in the Network Age http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/humanitarianism-network-age

Social Media in Emergencies: UNICEF Guidelines for Communication and Public Advocacy http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/social-media-emergencies-unicef-guidelines-communication-and-public-advocacy

Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management Course (Nov 24 - Dec 19 2014) http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/event/tech-tools-and-skills-emergency-management-course-nov-24-dec-19-2014

If you have any comments on these postings, just reply to this email notification or follow the "Read More" link below to post a comment online.

Anja Venth Editor Soul Beat Africa www.comminit.com/africa

Ebola Response Anthropology Platform

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Naomi Marks - IDS introduces the Ebola Response Anthropology Platform. Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

Dear Warren

In response to your request below I’d like to let you know about the work that is being undertaken by the Institute of Development Studies in connection with the Ebola response:

First and foremost, Ebola-response initiatives at IDS (led by its director Melissa Leach) have focused around the building of an Ebola Response Anthropology Platform. This work is being undertaken together with partners at the University of Sussex, University of Exeter and LSHTM. The objectives include:

  1. To create an online resource portal enabling key stakeholders, practitioners and researchers to access information, findings and background resources about the socio-cultural, historical, economic and political dimensions of Ebola;

  2. To identify, connect up and support in-country anthropological and other social science capacity working in African countries affected by Ebola and to provide a platform for interaction with clinical, scientific and outbreak control teams;

  3. To support relief teams and in-country clinical and social scientific capacity through training and guidelines oriented towards strengthening community-based activities; to provide rapid responses by e-mail, conference calls and web-based dialogues to operational questions raised by those working for NGOs, government and international agencies about how to contain the epidemic effectively;

  4. To develop appropriate anthropological resources and networks positioned to mobilise a rapid, substantive, socially-informed response to future Ebola outbreaks in vulnerable places, including: Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Uganda and South Sudan; and

  5. To inform global health policy by drawing lessons from the Ebola response and advancing a comparative perspective on Ebola and other emerging infections.

At present the platform is being hosted by the HEART website and can be found at this link

However, the platform will be moved to its own website shortly and I can provide a new link when this happens. In any case, users will be redirected to the new site from the old url

B. IDS has also created a ‘Hot Topic’ on its website with links to various research outputs, blogs and other resources connected to its work on Ebola and zoonoses. This can be found at this link

C. I think you also have also received details of the ESRC Steps Centre (based at IDS and the University of Sussex) hot topics page which can be found at this link which also includes many useful resources.

Please let me know if I can help you further.

Best wishes

Naomi

Naomi Marks - IDS
Communications Officer
Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa Consortium
STEPS Centre
Institute of Development Studies

Unique - Need to learn from countries and communities

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Peter da Costa - The Gambia on the uniqueness of Ebola and the need to learn from countries and communities. Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

The Ebola theme site,associated sub-sites and discussion spaces are very timely and really important.

I am still trying to get my head around the C4D implications and potential avenues for helping address the outbreak, so I have little to contribute in terms of resources at this stage.

While there are many things we can learn from HIV, polio and other comms efforts, this Ebola outbreak is quite unique.

We’ll only be able to build a body of knowledge on what works and what approaches should be privileged once we have learned from how countries and communities are responding.

Peter da Costa

Mobile based interactive system

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Shib Shankar Dasgupta, Executive Director of DevKalpana Technologies outlines a mobile based interactive system that could be applied to Ebola Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

Dear Warren,

My company, DevKalpana Technologies is an ICT4D consulting organization registered in New York City. We have developed a mobile phone-based interactive system that helps in disseminating information on health, and community actions to rural men and women.

For example, you can disseminate information on Ebola awareness campaigns through this system to the people in their own languages.

You can also conduct extensive education and sensitization programs to inform individuals about the spread of the disease and how to protect themselves from the virus, including hygiene and sanitation training.

The campaigns can be operated from anywhere in the world without visiting the affected places. The system can also be used to conduct surveys without going into the affected places.

We would like to discuss with you whether there is any scope for integrating our mobile phone-based system with your existing projects in West Africa. We have offices in New York City and Washington DC. If you agree, we would like to meet with you or with any of your colleagues to discuss further on this subject.

Regards,

(from Network moderator: Please note that this opportunity to contact is open to all)

Shib Shankar Dasgupta, PhD - Executive Director
DevKalpana Technologies +1518.522.1907

New York USA

Legacy - Community Health system

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Raj Panjabi - Co-founder and CEO of Last Mile Health on the possible legacy of Ebola. Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

Ebola's Legacy Can Be a Thriving Community Health System

With war or a disease like Ebola, fear is natural. It seems like people all around you are dying. People you love, people you take care of, people who take care of you.

In such a context of enormous grief, it is human to imagine that these deaths are the result of a "curse" or conspiracy.

Much has been said of the local beliefs thwarting efforts to stop the spread of Ebola and to care for those who are already infected. Yet, such beliefs are eerily similar to hesitance in the United States around vaccination, and are a natural product of fear, distrust, and a lack of accurate information.

So how do we stop the spread of misinformation and ensure people go to Ebola Treatment Units or seek other forms of supportive care?

We start by letting it be known that Ebola can be a survival story.

To enable survival, we need to ensure consistent access to medicines, labs, and supportive care. Through this improved quality of care - one that focuses on support rather than quarantine - we can combat fear and stigma.

In fact, the best way to stop superstition and fear is actually to provide the best possible care for people.

Supplies alone are not enough to enable the best care. Most importantly, we need local community health workers who can build relationships with community members based on trust. We know that community members want to help. My colleague, Paul Farmer, indicated that 300 people showed up to an Ebola Treatment Unit to work. This demonstrates how we may exaggerate the stigma and underestimate the willingness of people to get involved in fighting this disease.

By recruiting, training, and mentoring local village residents to become professional community health workers, those falling sick in remote villages are able to access care for the very first time. Through building relationships across the community, we will ensure villagers are turning to the primary health center for treatment, rather than turning away from it. Not only will we continue to treat patients for malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea, but we will be more likely to have villagers infected with Ebola seek care, and go on to survive.

Indeed, Ebola survivors could be a new frontline of response. Ebola survivors, including mothers and sisters who are often community caregivers, can be a key component of Ebola response. Not only do those who recover have an intimate stake in curbing the epidemic, but they also show us it is possible to have Ebola, and survive. A survivors’ network makes it clear that Ebola doesn’t have to be a fatal disease.

Ebola has spread fiercely because in countries such as Liberia, where 51 doctors were left to care for a country of 4 million after the war, villagers have been left without access to care. The public health system had been shattered. As we fight Ebola, we need not only to address the current challenge but also envision and build a new infrastructure for community health.

Ultimately strengthening health systems will not only end the current epidemic, but it will prevent future epidemics from recurring. We can do this by deploying professional community health workers, who are providing consistent quality of care and are linked to local health centers.

At the age of nine, I fled Liberia as it was gripped by war. I returned to support my community because I believe that no lives matter more than others. Access to health care should not only be a basic right - it can also be a building block for community.

Let’s use this crisis to create long-lasting change - a community health system where every person, even those living in last mile villages, has an equal chance at health and survival.

If we do so, we will not only have fought Ebola, we will have made possible a new future based on access to care, strengthened health systems, and resilient communities.

Click here to access this blog on the Open Society Foundation website. - re-communicated with their support and encouragement.

Contact: Raj Panjabi - Co-founder and CEO of Last Mile Health
Last Mile Health website
Twitter: @lastmilehealth
info@lastmilehealth.org

Job Vacancies - Ebola related

To The Health Communication Network within The Communication Initiative
From: Warren Feek - Executive Director - The Communication Initiative Ebola and Health Communication Jobs

Best wishes and many thanks for the much valued knowledge, analysis, experiences and ideas that are flowing both the Ebola thread in the Health Communication network and the Ebola Communication and Media community of practice theme site. Knowledge such as this from Soul City in South Africa and analysis such as the Why question from Shari Cohen are very important for advancing effective Ebola action and improving health communication overall.

Skilled people are essential to this struggle. There are a number of Ebola related jobs being posted through our Classifieds - Job Vacancies platform. A few are shared below. Please do further share these with your networks and keep an eye out for new ones posted at this link. If you have jobs to highlight related on Ebola and other Health Communication themes please email me at wfeek@comminit.com - thanks

Team Leader, Ebola Response - Internews - Monrovia, Liberia

Ebola Programs Director - PCI Media Impact - New York, NY, United States

Humanitarian Journalism Trainer - Internews - Monrovia, Liberia

Senior Ebola Communication for Development and Entertainment-Education Manager - PCI Media Impact - New York, NY, United States

Senior Ebola Campaign Manager - PCI Media Impact - New York, NY, United States

Health Communication Liaison Officer - Internews - Monrovia, Liberia

More will flow through the Ebola thread here

Thanks and much strength to all - Warren

Fear of Ebola on the airwaves

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Mariama Khai Fornah - BBC Media Action in Sierra Leone with her perspectives and experience on tackling fear of Ebola on the airwaves. Please share your response to this perspective. Just reply to this email or click Read More below and comment.

In my work as a radio producer I have heard stories of people recovering from Ebola, only to face terrible stigma, making it difficult for them to get on with their lives. One survivor James Ngebah, told me, "I lost 19 of my family members as a result of the Ebola but I survived the virus but when I returned home, my neighbours stopped my wife from fetching water from the water well even though she doesn’t have the virus."

"This stopped me from trying to fetch water too," he added. "Our neighbours totally ignore us. This is a bitter experience for me and worse than the virus I’ve survived."

Greatest fear

After a radio programme in which we had given advice about Ebola Virus Disease (often just called "Ebola"), I took a call from a man called Mustapha Kamara, a 37 year old cocoa farmer who lives in Mandu village in Kailahun, Eastern Sierra Leone. Mustapha’s greatest fear, he told me, is that if he catches the virus, his entire household could become infected.

Although there have been no known incidents of Ebola in Mandu, the nearest reported case is only three kilometres away. The area has been under quarantine for over two months and life is really difficult. The travel restrictions have led to food shortages and prices are inflated. People are confused and frightened of the virus and suspicious of anyone who has been infected.

"We were strongly warned by our community leaders not to engage with anyone who claimed to have survived the virus," Mustapha told me. "I vowed that I would never allow a survivor to come close to me."

Survivors pose no risk

But listening to our radio programme - Kick Ebola Nar Salone (Kick Ebola Out Of Sierra Leone) had helped changed his mind. He told me that he now understands that survivors of the strain of Ebola virus present in West Africa are unlikely to contract the same strain again and once they have fully recovered do not pose a risk to others. Just as importantly he understands how to help protect himself and his community.

"I want to thank BBC Media Action," he said, "because it has helped me get knowledge on what to do to prevent the spread of Ebolavirus and how it can be contracted, which initially I had no idea about."

Mustapha says people in the community now know that they should restrict movement to and from the village, report any suspected cases, and be sensitive to people who have Ebola. They will also refrain from burying any relatives who die from Ebola - but will instead contact the burial team in either Kenema or Kailahun.

After speaking with Mustapha, I felt that he sounded hopeful and confident rather than frightened. He believed he had enough information to protect himself and his family from this dreaded disease.

Power of media

This is a difficult time in Sierra Leone and West Africa and it’s impossible to know what will happen next. But speaking to Mustapha reminded me of the power of the media in a crisis – especially when programmes are produced in local dialects. As radio producers, my colleagues and I have a crucial role to play in the fight against the disease - we can reach isolated communities with practical and accurate information, in languages and terminology that people understand.

Our conversation inspired me to continue to give 100% to my job, and gave me hope that we can save the lives of listeners all around the country.

Mariama Khai Fornah - BBC Media Action in Sierra Leone

Click here to access this BBC Media Action blog and related links on their work in Sierra Leone.

To The Health Communication

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Here are two very different videos we recently posted about Ebola: Ebola: A Poem for the Living - Video http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/ebola-poem-living-video

Explain Like I'm Five: What is Ebola? - Video http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/explain-im-five-what-ebola-video

Let us know what you think. Simply reply to this email notification or follow the “Read more” link below and post your comment online.

Regards, Anja Editor, Soul Beat Africa http://www.comminit.com/africa

Sierra Leone Ebola response

To: The Health Communication Network within The Communication Initiative

Mohamed S Dabo - Sierra Leone provides his perspective on the ebola communication efforts

I have already completed the survey.

However, with regards the ebola shared knowledge, the government in collaboration with partners are doing a great job to eradicate this menace.

The government has outlined ebola prevention messages, weekly training of health and other relevant stakeholders, proper fumigation exercises, proper burial and screening processes. The UK government has already sent in over 300 Royal Armed Forces to help eradicate the disease.

Before the outbreak , there was low awareness and denial on the ebola issue, coupled with traditional beliefs and other so-called 'western conspiracies' among some percent of the the populace.

There has been a robust measure in place as the former minister of defence heads the National Ebola Response Commmittee (NERC) for an effective and efficient response towards the outbreak. According to government statistics, total cumulative death is 1,142, Cumulative confirmed cases is 4,523. As of November 10th, 2014 reported new cases = 90. With western area and Port Loko district bearing the brunt.

There are rumours though not confirmed about another week long lock down to finally cut down on transmission rates and a speedy eradication of the outbreak. Worthnoting is that, a renowned journalist Dr. David tam Mbayoh has been jailed without charged from 'orders' of the President. The case is critical and very disturbing on the human rights side; but a grave concern for incitement(as alleged by government) regarding the ebola issue.

Once more, thanks for the support and Sierra Leone still need help at this trivial but critical times.

Mohamed

Re: [Health Communication] Ebola - Communication and Media netwo

Hi folks - Mohamed's very insightful outline of the Ebola response in Sierra Leone as part of this thread prompted me to provide these reminders!

  1. The Development organisations and local media Ebola News thread can be accessed at this link

  2. You can filter for Ebola action (eg by country) at this link - please note that this is being added to on a regular basis

  3. Others in your networks can join this dialogue and knowledge sharing through the quick registration process here - selecting "Join Health Communication" (and any others of interest).

With many thanks for engaging in this Health Communication social network and shared learning process - please keep the sharing flowing!)

Thanks and best wishes - Warren

Ebola Resources

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Here are some Ebola-related resources which we recently posted onto the Ebola theme site.

Psychological First Aid for Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak Published by the World Health Organization (WHO), this guide discusses psychological first aid, "which involves humane, supportive and practical help to fellow human beings suffering serious crisis events," with particular focus on support needed during an Ebola Virus outbreak. http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/psychological-first-aid-ebola-virus-disease-outbreak

Ebola Deeply News Site This is an online web portal and news site designed to provide accurate and timely information about the Ebola health crisis, with an emphasis on providing context and countering misinformation. http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/ebola-deeply-news-site

Ebola Response Anthropology Platform This online web platform has been created to give an anthropological perspective to assist in disease control efforts in Ebola effected countries, providing information about local cultures, belief systems, and practicies in the context of the Ebola response. http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/ebola-response-anthropology-platform

Hope you find these useful. Let us know what you think by simply replying to this email notification or follow the “Read more” link below and post your comment online.

Regards, Anja Editor, Soul Beat Africa http://www.comminit.com/africa

Information & Communication Technologies and the Ebola Response

To The Health Communication network within The Communication Initiative (Ebola theme site)

Here are a few resources which focus on the use of ICTS in the Ebola response.

7 Key Insights in Using ICT to Improve Ebola Response http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/7-key-insights-using-ict-improve-ebola-response

6 Ways Technology is Helping to Fight Ebola http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/6-ways-technology-helping-fight-ebola

GIS Support for the MSF Ebola Response in Guinea in 2014 - A Case Study http://www.comminit.com/ci-ebola/content/gis-support-msf-ebola-response-guinea-2014

Across all publications, the use of ICTS is shown to be very helpful in mapping the disease and for tracking down people who may have been in contact with confirmed cases of Ebola. It got me thinking about other diseases which are spread through close human contact, such as TB, and I was wondering whether similar methods are used to trace people with whom a patient has been in contact with. Perhaps the nature of the disease and/or incubation period of the disease makes this use of ICTs less applicable? Does anyone know of similar methods being used for other infectious diseases or is this unique to Ebola?

Kind regards, Anja Venth Editor, Soul Beat Africa

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