Turning it around

The bigger the ship, the longer it takes to turn around.  Being a Southamptoner, I can’t resist a nautical metaphor!  But the same goes for a major outbreak like the one being faced in West Africa.  Experts are now suggesting it will take six to nine months before this is all over.  When the spread of disease is out of control it is hard to imagine how this will end, but it can end, and it will, and the key is public health interventions.  That is where the Red Cross comes into its own.

From the start the Liberian Red Cross has been a core member of the National Task Force in Liberia, which is headed by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and is responsible for coordinating the response.  The Red Cross has been commissioned with responsibility for taking the lead with awareness and social mobilisation activities at county level, due to its unrivaled networks throughout the country.  By the beginning of August, they had already mobilised 650 volunteers, and has been working in a number of areas:

·       Social mobilisation – this is all about reaching people with accurate information about Ebola, helping them to know what steps they can take to protect their families, combating the serious threats posed by denial, fear and panic.  The Red Cross is incredibly well-respected in Liberia, and even by mid-July was reporting having held 93 community sessions, reaching over 32,000 people from 5890 households.

Psychosocial support – counsellors with experience of conflict-resolution and trauma have been coordinated at county-level branches to provide training and support to volunteers out in the community, as they help to minimize fear, stigma and mitigate potential conflict within the affected communities.

Dead body management – the Red Cross is hands-on with assisting to perform safe burials in affected areas, preventing further infection.  By the beginning of August they had already assisted with 70 burials in the capital city state of Montserrado.

Contact tracing – people who have had contact with an Ebola sufferer in the community need to be identified in order to prevent further spread of the disease.  These people are then assisted to monitor their health (particularly through taking their temperature for the duration of the incubation period – 21 days, as we all well know), and they are also provided with education about the disease and support as they go through the anxiety of waiting to see whether they have been affected, as around 1/10 contacts will be.  Over 100 volunteers were trained in contact tracing in three counties by the beginning of August.

In Liberia, the Ebola situation has become a very political issue, and due to lack of understanding some communities have been very resistant to interventions.  This has caused great difficulty in identifying and following up some contacts, and even violent attacks against health workers in some areas.  Still, the Red Cross volunteers and staff are well trained and equipped to carry out their roles safely.  Crucially, they come from the communities in which they are working, which makes a big difference when it comes to disseminating prevention messages or when rumours and cultural beliefs need to be addressed.

There remains an urgent need to improve and scale up contact tracing and dead body management efforts if the spread of Ebola is to be brought under control.  This requires resources – both people and equipment.  Without this either people may be put at risk because of inadequate protective equipment, or people may be forced to work long hours, leading to exhaustion of staff and volunteers working under harrowing circumstances.  The Red Cross has the infrastructure – it also needs the funds.

If you feel inspired to support the Red Cross to fight the Ebola outbreak, click here to go to my online fundraising page where you can donate online easily and securely to support the Ebola outbreak appeal across West Africa.