Our Ebola prevention sensitization is a great success!

“A woman at Waima town whose monkey soup was always like a hotcake (fast selling) lately cooked monkey soup for sale but could not sell a single spoonful for the rest of the day due to our Ebola sensitization that encourages people to stop eating animals such as monkeys, baboons and bats that can carry the Ebola virus ”- Swaray Lengor, Health Program Officer Pujehun. This is just one of the many stories being told as a result of our Ebola prevention sensitization in the districts of Pujehun and Kailahun (which border with Liberia and Guinea).

Prevention and preparedness form Save the Children in Sierra Leone’s response to the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, especially the neighboring countries, Liberia and Guinea. We are working to raise community awareness on the disease in relation to transmission, signs, symptoms and prevention. Since the outbreak of the virus in Guinea and Liberia, Save the Children has been supporting the District Health Management Team to empower the Community Health Workers with vital information on the disease so that the information will be disseminated to communities where they reside. Our health team has also engaged other stakeholders in the districts including religious and community leaders, school authorities and children - a collective strategy to prevent an outbreak.

At national level, Save the Children is actively working with the National Task Force on Ebola as well as the communication subgroup by developing key messages for a nationwide sensitization and providing vital feedback received from the field. “We will continue with the sensitization while monitoring the situation and we’re prepared to intervene in the event of an outbreak”, says Amie Kamara, Save the Children in Sierra Leone’s Health Program Advisor.