Flere lande i Vestafrika, der endnu ikke har oplevet tilfælde af ebola, forsøger at gøre sig klar til at imødegå virussen. For eksempel bliver der distribueret udstyr og udpeget isolationscentre. Håbet er at inddæmme det voldsomme udbrud.
DAKAR/OUGADOUGOU, 22 September 2014 (IRIN) – As the Ebola caseload rises to over 5,350, aid agencies and governments in countries not yet affected by the deadly virus are gearing up for its potential spread across new borders by pre-positioning supplies, training health workers, identifying isolation centres, and disseminating prevention campaign messages, among other activities.
Countries that share a land border with the affected countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, and Mali, are considered to be most at risk.
“It is vitally important that, countries – especially surrounding countries that don’t have Ebola cases as of yet – are prepared for a worst case scenario,” said Pieter Desloovere, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO).
In August, WHO issued an Ebola Response Roadmap to help countries across the region limit the spread of the virus. One of its three objectives is to strengthen the ability of all countries to detect and deal with any potential cases.
“The reason that Ebola started in Guinea and has since spread to Liberia and other countries is that no one was paying attention,” said Grev Hunt, the UN Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF’s) sub-regional coordinator for the Ebola outbreak. “We were caught unaware. But now, we are paying very close attention to what is going on and making sure the same thing won’t happen again.”
Unlike in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where response plans and training materials had to be created from scratch, UNICEF is now replicating those resources and giving them to neighbouring countries, saving time and effort.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says they have put in place Ebola preparedness and response activities in 11 countries across West Africa, and many local and international NGOs have been pre-positioning medical supplies, training health workers and educating the public.
“Failing to plan is actually planning to fail,” said Unni Krishnan, the head of disaster preparedness and response for Plan International. “And we know from previous disasters that a dollar you put towards preparedness… tends to save thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of lives.”
Preparedness funds
Key to prevention and preparedness in at-risk countries is having access to timely funding, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Senegal currently has US$5.7 million at the ready to use towards Ebola preparation and prevention.
Mali has around $3.6 million and Côte d’Ivoire $2.9 million. In Guinea Bissau, where the health system is extremely weak, only $800,000 is currently available for Ebola-related activities. “It’s quite a fragile situation right now,” said Daniel Sanha, a communication officers for the Guinea Bissau Red Cross. “We have a contingency plan in place, but the Red Cross still has no funds to implement any Ebola intervention activities. At the same time, the government doesn’t have enough funds or equipment to take all the necessary precautions.”
Mass public education campaigns
National media campaigns, including radio shows, TV programmes and other on-air broadcasts, are now under way in all sub-regional countries to educate people about Ebola and give them enough information to protect themselves, as well as to prevent rumours and misunderstandings from spreading.
“This is the first time we have had an Ebola outbreak in West Africa and part of the challenge we are facing is that people have no idea what the disease actually is or how it is spread,” Desloovere said.
Volunteers in Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau are handing out pamphlets and flyers door to door, as well as posting them in public areas. Social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, along with text messages to mobile phone subscribers, are being used by Health Ministries and aid agencies to transmit information and to remind people to practise safe hygiene measures, and to go to a clinic if they detect symptoms.
UNICEF says the messages, which have all been approved by the Ministries of Health, are transmitted in local languages and in culturally appropriate ways. Rather than urging families not to bury their dead in the traditional way, for instance, aid agencies work with communities to find a safer burial procedure that both are comfortable with.
“Our message is very simple,” said Buba Darbo, the head of disaster management for the Gambian Red Cross. “Don’t touch a sick person, don’t touch a dead body. If everyone follows this advice they will prevent themselves from getting Ebola.”
Some messaging specifies that people should avoid shaking hands as a gesture of greeting.
Aid agencies have also begun working with religious leaders and local community leaders to spread messages about what to do, and not do, in case of possible Ebola infections.
Health worker training
Læs hele artiklen på IRIN News.
