4 pillars of WFP support:

1. Delivering food and nutrition support alongside the health response;

2. Mitigating the impact of the health emergency on food security;

3. Ensuring the movement of partner staff and materials; and

4. Providing common services and infrastructure support for health partners.

In numbers

To date, in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone:

• More than 3.5 million people assisted with food, cash and nutrition support under the EMOP;

• 22,290 responders transported by UNHAS;

• Over 107,000 m3 of cargo transported since September 2014.

MONROVIA/DAKAR, 10 August 2015 (IRIN) - West Africa’s Ebola outbreak might be winding down, but the struggles facing survivors in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are far from over.

Beyond psycho-social problems related to stigma and post-traumatic stress disorder, more than half of survivors say they are suffering from debilitating joint pain, headaches, and fatigue. At least 25 percent have experienced some degree of change in vision, with many now close to being blind, according the World Health Organization (WHO).

“I was cured from Ebola last October, but since then I have been suffering from severe pain in my joints,” 45-year-old Kebeh Jomah, who lives in Monrovia, told IRIN. “Sometimes it is so serious that I don’t walk around… I hardly visit people anymore. All day I am sitting home crying from joint pain.”

Chris Tuan, 18, said his vision has been getting increasingly worse since he was discharged from an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) in Liberia in November.

“I hardly see from a far distance anymore,” he said. “I am gradually losing my eyesight. I amworried. Sometimes I can’t walk alone. Someone has to help me to move around…This is no joke.”

Medical mystery

Doctors and other Ebola specialists say they are still unsure exactly why recovered Ebola patients, months later, are still suffering from these lingering side-effects, which many refer to as “post-Ebola syndrome." It is also unclear why the symptoms manifest themselves in so many ways in different people and to varying degrees.

“We have very preliminary data – and I will again stress it is very preliminary – that suggests that patients who may have had more severe, acute disease may have more severe chronic disease after the initial recovery,” said Doctor Daniel Bausch, a clinical infection control specialist for WHO.

But while studies from previous outbreaks have shown that the virus can survive in certain parts of the body, where the immune system does not reach, such as the eyes and testes, even for months after recovery, Bausch said nobody knows why patients are experiencing other physical problems, such as headaches and joint pains, in places where the immune system can reach.

“That’s really one of the big knowledge gaps in which we need more research,” Bausch said.

During past outbreaks, the number of people infected was always much smaller and so was the number of survivors, making it difficult to perform studies on a largescale.

Now, there are more than 13,000 survivors across the three most-affected countries, giving experts a chance to have a more comprehensive look at the various long-lasting effects of Ebola.

Even that, however, may be difficult, as the testing requires special biosafety facilities and can sometimes be invasive for the survivor.

“It would be difficult… to really do studies that would measure, for example, cleaning the virus out of the eye, because that requires a relatively complicated procedure of tapping [and] putting a needle in someone’s eye – that’s [something] not too many of you would probably likely to volunteer for,” Bausch explained.

A need for care

Beyond the need to better understand the long-lasting effects of Ebola, the more immediate need for these survivors is care.

“When you say joint pain, it sounds like a minor thing, [but] it can be quite a major thing for many people,” Bausch said, explaining that many people in these three countries rely on farming and other manual labour for their survival, but are now unable to go back to work and provide for their families.

For eye problems, in particular, if the inflammation, which causes vision problems, is left untreated, the person can go completely blind, according to WHO.

There are no known treatments for any of these ailments, however, and trained eye specialists are rare. In Sierra Leone, for example, there are just two ophthalmologists for the entire country.

Doctors say they are currently treating people’s symptoms on a case-to-case basis, using general medications, such as steroid eye drops or arthritis pain relievers.

To reach survivors in other areas of the country, WHO is now working with local governments and organisations in all three countries to create mobile eye clinics, as well as offer other treatment for the various ailments facing survivors.

In Liberia, the country’s first Ebola Survivor Clinic is now operational at the ELWA Hospital on the outskirts of Monrovia. The clinic, which is funded by the US-based charity Serving in Mission (SIM), offers free consultations, care and medications to survivors.

According to Doctor John Fankhauser, the deputy medical director at the ELWA Hospital, they see more than two dozen patients each day.

“We see a lot of muscular problems, people who come in with very severe pains in their hips, in their joints and in their knees,” Fankhauser said. “Some of them even have a hard time working shuffling into clinic. And these are patients who have been suffering from this for months [without care].”

Many people hope the clinic will finally offer some relief.

“My little baby you see here is an Ebola survivor,” said Morris Kollie, inside the Survivor Clinic.“By the special grace of God, he survived and just turned five [years old] this year. But he continues to complain of severe headaches and pains. We have taken him all over the place, but no cure yet.”

pc/jl/ag

FREETOWN, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has pledged China's full support in Sierra Leone's post-Ebola recovery programme, ranging from health system rebuilding to infrastructure and industrialization cooperation.

Wang Yi reveal this during a meeting with Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma on Saturday at the start of his tri-nation tour of the three West African nations hardly hit by the Ebola virus, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

He said China will concentrate on five key priority areas which include infrastructure development, mining, agriculture, public health system and human resources.

He said the reason for his visit is to demonstrate to the international community that "China stands ready to support Sierra Leone in its post Ebola recovery programme and help in the development of the country" and at the same time know the country's needs.

He maintained that China will provide further medical support and personnel to train the local staff thereby improving the public health system.

He commended Sierra Leone's government and people for "the decisive victory of the Ebola virus" noting that with the president's leadership as well as the international support "we will definitely defeat Ebola."

Koroma said China's quick response and practical support have played an important role in Sierra Leone's victory against the deadliest ever Ebola outbreak. "We can safely say the disease is now under control," he said.

The president said China demonstrated that it is real friend to Sierra Leone.

He said in fighting Ebola, the country is faced with a number of socio-economic challenges but looked forward to Chinese support in the country's Ebola recovery programme.

In a meeting with Sierra Leone's Foreign Minster Samura Kamara, Wang Yi said China will help the West African country establish a tropical disease prevention and treatment center, and provision of training facilities of the local personnel together with medical supplies.

He promised to encourage Chinese investors to invest in Sierra Leone, stepping up in industrialization cooperation, meeting Sierra Leone's expects of adding value to its resources, job creation, food security and infrastructure development.

Kamara registered his country's appreciation for immense assistance in the fight against Ebola noting that, notwithstanding their support in the fight against Ebola, China has continued to pour more assistance in the country's development.

Conflict and Health 2015, 9:23 doi:10.1186/s13031-015-0052-7, Barbara McPake12*, Sophie Witter1, Sarah Ssali3, Haja Wurie4, Justine Namakula5 and Freddie Ssengooba5

Abstract

Ebola seems to be a particular risk in conflict affected contexts. All three of the countries most affected by the 2014-15 outbreak have a complex conflict-affected recent history. Other major outbreaks in the recent past, in Northern Uganda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo are similarly afflicted although outbreaks have also occurred in stable settings. Although the 2014-15 outbreak in West Africa has received more attention than almost any other public health issue in recent months, very little of that attention has focused on the complex interaction between conflict and its aftermath and its implications for health systems, the emergence of the disease and the success or failure in controlling it.

The health systems of conflict-affected states are characterized by a series of weaknesses, some common to other low and even middle income countries, others specifically conflict-related. Added to this is the burden placed on health systems by the aggravated health problems associated with conflict. Other features of post conflict health systems are a consequence of the global institutional response.

Comparing the experience of Northern Uganda and Sierra Leone in the emergence and management of Ebola outbreaks in 2000-1 and in 2014-15 respectively highlights how the various elements of these conflict affected societies came together with international agencies responses to permit the outbreak of the disease and then to successfully contain it (in Northern Uganda) or to fail to do so before a catastrophic cost had been incurred (in Sierra Leone).

These case studies have implications for the types of investments in health systems that are needed to enable effective response to Ebola and other zoonotic diseases where they arise in conflict- affected settings.

This is the first situation report from the Interagency Collaboration on Ebola. This report replaces situation reports previously produced by UNMEER.

KEY POINTS

• In week ending 2 August, two confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease have been reported: one in Guinea and one in Sierra Leone. This is the second week in a row that new case numbers have been in single digits.

• On 31 July, the UN Secretary-General announced the completion of UNMEER’s mission and commencement of WHO’s responsibility for oversight of the UN system’s Ebola emergency response in West Africa as of 1 August.

• WHO and partners have reported that they are on the verge of an effective vaccine against EVD.

BY TOMMI LAULAJAINEN

Arriving in Mamusa village in Port Loko, we are greeted by the rows of houses cordoned off by bright orange plastic fencing. For the past 21 days, 134 people who had come in contact with an Ebola victim have been quarantined in their homes. Today, the fences will come down.

“Not a single person ran away from here,” exclaims Pastor Albat Kamara jubilantly. Pastor Kamara is one of the members of the Mamusa Neighbourhood Watch Group which was established by the Red Cross with the support of UNICEF. The group was formed after a father and son from the community went missing following the death of the boy’s mother from Ebola. “We have a plan to establish Neighbourhood Watch Groups in all the hotspots,” explains Victor Khama, a Sierra Leonean UNICEF field support officer, who helped out the Mamusa group.

The death of the mother spurred Santana, a 27-year-old Ebola survivor fromMamusa, into action. He had received information about the whereabouts of the father and son and let the newly founded Neighbourhood Watch Group know about his plans to travel to a nearby community where the two high-risk Ebola contacts were reportedly hiding. When he arrived in the community, they were nowhere to be found. Santana left his number with the community members and asked them to contact him as soon as they had any further news.

Nine days later, he received a call that the pair had been spotted. Santana returned to the village and found the father and his son scared, hungry and hiding in the bush. After long discussions, he managed to convince them to return to Mamusa. He called 117, the free Ebola hotline, and the two were driven back to the village to be quarantined. Today*, they will be amongst the 134 people to be released healthy from their quarantine.

UNICEF is working under the leadership of Sierra Leone district authorities in Port Loko as well as other partners, such as the World Health Organization, the Sierra Leone Red Cross, Restless Development, Oxfam, DFID and OFDA to establish over 300 Neighbourhood Watch groups in all the Ebola hotspots as well as in communities bordering Guinea. These community-led groups typically include the village head and religious leaders, as well as women and youth group representatives. Members receive an orientation on Ebola prevention, on recognizing the first signs of the disease, and on the actions they can take to keep their community safe. They then monitor the community for travellers and sick people by doing house-to-house visits. Since the Mamusa group was established, they have used 117 to report five suspected Ebola cases, none of which, fortunately, turned out to have contracted the virus.

After Pastor Kamara poses for the group picture with his Muslim counterpart, Imam Mohammed Conteh, and other Neighbourhood Watch group members, he approaches me and says: “You asked me why we formed our group and it is very simple. We formed it because we want to be part of the fight against Ebola and keep Ebola out of Mamusa. We want to do our part in this fight.”

Tommi Laulajainen is a Communications for Development advisor with UNICEF Sierra Leone

*The visit to Mamusa took place on 9 July 2015.

What is the quickest way to find out exactly what people need? Ask them. Sounds easy enough. But in an emergency setting, collecting this kind of information can prove logistically challenging. And slow. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been no exception in terms of logistical challenges, but it has nevertheless proven to be an opportunity for the Red Cross to pioneer an efficient method of data collection—Rapid Mobile Phone Based surveys or RAMP.

Combining this innovation with Red Cross’ beneficiary communications approach - dialogue with affected communities - enabled Red Cross teams to rapidly inform and evaluate programming in the critical first days of a disease outbreak, and throughout the response.

Amanda McClelland, Senior Emergency Health Officer with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says, “Collecting data in the initial stages of a response provides information crucial to a response strategy. However, it is an arduous task that can end up at the bottom of a list of competing demands for time, resources and technology.”

RAMP provides a durable and efficient data-collecting model that delivers sufficient data to make programme decisions without unduly stretching the capacity of response teams and local volunteers. RAMP uses simple app software on smart phones or tablet devices, which is easy to learn and use.

Technology in the Ebola response

In Sierra Leone, the beneficiary communications team was able to survey communities across the country to find out the best way to reach and provide information and gather information for the safe and dignified burial teams.

Mohamed Sesay, Advocacy Officer for the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, explains, “We worked closely with the local chiefs, going through the community protocols to build trust and to explain the relevance of RAMP surveys for them. This is how we always approach communities. But this time there were no delays in getting the information we received back to our headquarters.”

RAMP surveys lead to immediate and concrete improvement in programming and provision of relief. In Sierra Leone, RAMP surveys identified that radio is the most effective media for reaching communities; the survey also drilled down to identify which radio stations were the most listened to. Using this information, the response team distributed 3,000 solar powered radios, and broadcast from the most wide-reaching stations to ensure people had access to life-saving information.

Trading pen and paper for mobile phones

As surrounding countries in West Africa mobilize to protect and prevent the spread of Ebola in border communities, RAMP surveys are being used to establish a rapid baseline understanding of community knowledge in at-risk communities.

In both Benin and Cote d’Ivoire, RAMP solved the time and logistical challenges of paper based surveys. Nicéphone Aguiar, Supervisor and RAMP trainer for the Red Cross of Benin, says real time evaluation was impossible before RAMP.

“We were having to take piles of paper, making it impossible. But this new tool means we can undertake quick and comprehensive data collection. This is not just a new idea for us, it’s completely new technology. Some of our volunteers and community members had never seen a tablet before.”

Philippe Louloux, Ebola focal point for the Red Cross Society of Cote d’Ivoire, says RAMP increased the speed and reach of volunteers going into target communities. “We didn’t want to neglect any communities. With RAMP we were able to survey 117 communities in 11 days. The Ministry of Health undertook the same survey with paper questionnaires. It took them three months to reach the same number of communities.”

This innovation doesn’t stop there. The Red Cross is improving global emergency response by sharing RAMP data and collaborating with various sectors for continuous improvement. Data captured through Red Cross RAMP surveys in West Africa will be available to responding organizations, and will inform forthcoming new emergency response guidelines on how to quickly create a behaviour change strategy at the beginning of an outbreak. The Red Cross is also working collaboratively with humanitarian partners to evaluate and improve the Red Cross’ central database.

The new data sampling methodology is a true example of the global community coming together to increase its collective impact and respond more effectively to the needs on the ground. As McClelland says, “Looking at previous emergency health responses we know that if we had had real-time data in many of those emergencies, we would have been able to improve the ways humanitarian agencies coordinated their response to help more people.” Now we can.

Liberia - With no new Ebola cases in Liberia, but ongoing transmission in neighbouring Sierra Leone and Guinea, IOM is expanding its work to reinforce Liberia’s cross-border screening of travellers and its surveillance capacity.

Under a new project funded by USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), IOM will work with County Health Teams (CHTs) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) Disease Prevention and Control Division to provide key resources, training and mentoring support to major ports of entry and border communities in Grand Cape Mount, Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Maryland counties.

“Liberia has experienced the third wave of Ebola and as we move forward it is critical that border surveillance activities are heightened to ensure early detection of imported cases, identification, tracking and monitoring of potential high risk contacts,” says Thomas Nagbe, Director of the MoH Disease Prevention and Control Division and Chair of the National Disease Surveillance Technical Coordination Committee.

“With intermarriages, bloodlines and daily trade across borders, it is also important to engage key networks in communities to develop early warning surveillance systems. IOM has been working with us and is playing a critical role as the secretariat and part of the technical team driving the country’s border strategy to prevent Ebola transmission,” he notes.

To enable free and safe cross-border movement, IOM will train key immigration and health actors at prioritized border posts and checkpoints to improve efficiency and quality of entry and exit health screening procedures. This will be backed by support to improve infection prevention and control standards, provide isolation spaces, facilitate health referrals and aid reporting to the national disease surveillance structure.

Through local organizations, IOM will also provide training, tools and monitoring to enable border and vulnerable migrant communities to sustainably conduct community events-based surveillance and systematically report for prompt public health responses.

“In this critical moment in the fight against Ebola in the region, it is essential to support areas that are hard to reach and affected by human mobility, particularly border areas. Thanks to this US funding, IOM will be able to scale up its support for the MoH, while working with community-based organizations to ensure sustainability and full outreach to target communities. This will strengthen surveillance capacity in border areas, in line with international health regulation requirements and the national integrated disease surveillance strategy,” says IOM Liberia Chief of Mission Salvatore Sortino.

Since March 2015, IOM has supported health screening and surveillance efforts at border points and within border communities through the multi-partner Border Coordination Group and direct support to Grand Cape Mount, Grand Bassa and Bomi CHTs.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted high mobility of populations and cross-border movement of infected travellers as a major government challenge to containing the spread of Ebola in West Africa. As such, it is widely acknowledged that until all three countries are free of Ebola transmission, vigilance by all actors, particular along the region’s porous borders, must continue.

Since the outbreak in March 2014, 10,672 of the region’s 27,748 infections were reported in Liberia, with over 4,808 deaths out of a total of 11,279.

For further information, please contact IOM Monrovia. Sandra Tumwesigye, Tel: +231 886 202 758, Email: stumwesigye@iom.int or Claire Lyster, Tel: +2318 807 72107, Email: clyster@iom.int

Snapshot 5-11 August 2015

Burkina Faso: Heavy floods in Ouagadougou, Kadiogo province, and Bobo-Dioulasso, Houet province, in early August affected around 19,780 people. Significant damage to houses and food stocks were reported. Additional flooding in the north could bring the total number of affected to 122,000. More than 1.5 million people are facing Stressed or Crisis food security outcomes in Burkina Faso, especially in the Sahel region in the north.

India: Floods caused by protracted heavy rains have affected an estimated 10 million people in India. Reported as the worst flooding in 200 years, it has displaced one million people.

Myanmar: Flooding and landslides linked to Cyclone Komen have, as of 10 August, affected around one million people and killed 99. 12 out of 14 states and regions have been affected. On 31 July, Rakhine state, Chin state, Sagaing region and Magway region were declared natural disaster zones. Close to 200,000 people have been displaced.

Global Emergency Overview Web Interface

Thanks to the support of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have carried out psycho-social support, contact tracing, safe and dignified burials, case management and social mobilisation in Ebola affected communities. All five interventions have contributed to reigning in the outbreak.

“ABC: Avoid Body Contact”, “No touch” and “Ebola is real” became mantras to chant and print across Sierra Leone as the country was battling the unprecedented Ebola outbreak which began in May 2014. Catchy and simple, communities latched onto these snappy sayings and, for the most part, lived by them. Education through social mobilisation led to behaviour change. Case rates tumbled. Over 3 000 Red Cross volunteers engaged in the Ebola emergency response have been central to binding communities to the words that will protect them from Ebola.

Pushing for zero cases

Life is returning to normal throughout Sierra Leone after emergency restrictions (prohibiting public gatherings, restricting hours of commercial activity and limiting travel in an effort to stem transmission) were lifted over a month ago. Now, market places are a hive of activity. The narrow streets are packed with petty traders as pedestrians fight for their share of the pavement. As a sense of normality settles, how do we manage to keep people vigilant about Ebola and ensure they continue to adopt safe and dignified burial practices?

The messages and advice for preventing Ebola stay the same, but the way they are said needs to be constantly reinvented and repackaged so that they do not fall on deaf ears.

Two districts, Port Loko and Kambia, continue to record cases of Ebola and have come under the spotlight for targeted intervention. Under the Northern Push operation, there is an intensification of social mobilisation and engagement of leaders at the chiefdom level to ensure that Ebola-related bylaws, such as a mandate to remain inside quarantine zones, are enforced.

The Red Cross is playing a key role in deploying an extra 700 volunteers across the two districts to go door-to-door, raising awareness about Ebola and its prevention among rural and urban households. Red Cross volunteers, as trusted and recognised voices within their communities, are uniquely positioned to be able to keep people on guard against Ebola, even as life around them apparently returns to normal. Until we reach zero cases, and even after, there is no room for complacency.

Remixing the Ebola message

Creativity and engagement is the key to keeping communities interested and involved in fighting Ebola. One initiative that the Red Cross has developed is Radio in a Box which sees mobile radio and drama groups touring the two districts. The interactive plays are broadcast on the community radio ensuring that neighbouring communities hear the opinions and solutions coming from their close neighbours.

Actors perform in front of the gathered community, complaining about the persistence of Ebola and showing their annoyance at the restrictions placed upon them. One actor grumbles: Why is there still Ebola in his community when the majority of the country has managed to rid itself of it? Instead of another actor listing the reasons, community members are encouraged to come forward and explain their thoughts. One spectator cites attending unsafe burials, while another young woman suggests not respecting a quarantine zone is the reason for the continued presence of Ebola. Through this engagement, the community acknowledges that it is their behaviour which is not conducive to eradicating Ebola.

The actors then ask the community what each individual can do to solve the problem. Once again, community members step forward and make suggestions. Interactive drama is entertaining and it helps communities understand that they have the capacity to change their behaviour and stop Ebola. It becomes clear that Ebola is not an external curse or a problem that cannot be solved.

There are signs that the campaign is working in Kambia, which borders Guinea’s Ebola hotspot Forecariah. The community has achieved over 16 days without a new case of Ebola. Drama, music and other creative responses are proving essential in keeping the population vigilant. Engaging communities is not about sounding like a broken record, but about being able to remix the message.

CONAKRY/FREETOWN/MONROVIA, 12 August 2015 – As students in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone begin their summer vacations, measures put in place to protect them from the Ebola virus are being credited with having helped keep classrooms free from any infections.

Across the three countries, there have been no reported cases of a student or teacher being infected at a school since strict hygiene protocols were introduced when classes resumed at the beginning of the year after a months-long delay caused by the virus. In Liberia, two schools were decontaminated as a precaution following the death of a student in June 2015 and the infection of another in July 2015.

The protocols, developed by UNICEF and its partners, include taking the temperature of children and staff at the school gate and installing handwashing stations. They also involved the distribution of millions of bars of soap and chlorine, and the training of tens of thousands of teachers and administrators in the protocols and in providing psychosocial support.

Establishing and implementing the protocols across three countries required months of preparations.

“The massive effort that went into making schools as safe from Ebola transmission as possible appears to have paid off,” said Geoff Wiffin, UNICEF Representative in Sierra Leone. “Children learned in school how to protect themselves and others from Ebola, and they passed on those messages to their parents and their communities. This played an important role in the battle against the epidemic.”

Some five million children lost months of education as schools remained closed from July 2014 until the first months of 2015 in the three worst-affected countries, which already had poor education numbers. Before Ebola, 58 per cent of children attended primary school in Guinea, 34 per cent in Liberia and 74 per cent in Sierra Leone.

UNICEF is working to ensure the Ebola-prevention protocols remain in place after the holidays, while supporting efforts to make education systems more resilient, by addressing issues such as low enrolment, shortages of quality teachers, and access to safe water. Only 33 per cent of primary schools have access to water in Guinea, 45 per cent in Liberia, and some 40 per cent in Sierra Leone. Maintaining safe hygiene practices and standards will also be important in protecting children from other illnesses.

Due to the success of the measures, Guinea-Bissau has begun implementing similar protocols as a precaution, after people who had been in contact with an infected person in neighbouring Guinea were believed to have crossed the border and could not be tracked down.

“As we battle to get to zero cases, we also must think of the future. Major investments are needed to ensure that schools have basic water and sanitation infrastructure,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative in Liberia.

Note to editors:

Guinea
School Closed: 8 August 2014
Schools to reopen: After 11 October elections (tentative)
Teachers trained in Ebola prevention: 80,657, including 15,931 trained by UNICEF
Schools equipped with Ebola prevention hygiene package: 12,455 (100 %), including 7,176 provided by UNICEF.

Liberia
School Closed: 31 July, 2014
Schools to reopen: 7 September 2015
Teachers trained in Ebola prevention: 10,000, including 5,995 trained by UNICEF.
Schools equipped with Ebola prevention hygiene package: 4,619 (105 %), all provided by UNICEF. (Includes some schools that were not registered)

Sierra Leone
School Closed: 17 July 2014
Schools to reopen: 31 August 2015
Teachers trained in Ebola prevention: 18,338, including 8,997 trained by UNICEF.
Schools equipped with Ebola prevention hygiene package: 8,995 (99 %), including 3,472 schools with hand-washing kits by UNICEF, who provided all schools with soap and cleaning materials

Photos and video can be downloaded from: http://uni.cf/1xZAb39

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

For more information about UNICEF and its work visit www.unicef.org

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

For further information, please contact:
Timothy La Rose, UNICEF Guinea: tlarose@unicef.org +224 622 350 251
Rukshan Ratnam, UNICEF Liberia: rratnam@unicef.org +231 7702 67110
John James, UNICEF Sierra Leone, jjames@unicef.org +232 76 102 401
Tim Irwin, UNICEF West and Central Africa, tjirwin@unicef.org +221 77 529 1294
Melanie Sharpe, UNICEF New York msharpe@unicef.org +1 917-251-7670

Key points

• In week ending 09 August, 3 confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease were reported: 2 in Guinea and 1 in Sierra Leone. No new cases were reported in Liberia.

• Between 3 and 7 August, WHO held a meeting on survivors of Ebola virus disease in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

• Final results of WFP Emergency Food Security Assessments in Liberia and Sierra Leone show negative impact of Ebola epidemic on food security.

• UNICEF continues activities on social mobilization and is supporting households and orphans by providing hygiene kits.

7 AOÛT 2015 | FREETOWN - Tout le monde se réjouit quand les personnes qui ont survécu à la maladie à virus Ebola quittent l’unité de traitement d’Ebola. Pourtant, cette sortie n’est que le début d’un long et difficile parcours pour recouvrer la santé.

De nouvelles études montrent que les survivants éprouvent très souvent de sévères douleurs articulaires, des problèmes oculaires entraînant parfois une perte de la vision dans certains cas, une asthénie prononcée, des céphalées, une faculté de concentration réduite et des difficultés au niveau de leur santé mentale après avoir guéri de la maladie à virus Ebola.

On ne dispose néanmoins que de données très limitées sur les types et la fréquence des divers problèmes de santé signalés ou sur les meilleures pratiques pour la prise en charge clinique.

«Jamais nous n’avons eu un nombre aussi grand de survivants. C’est très nouveau. Nous avons la responsabilité unique et importante de dispenser des soins et d’apporter un appui aux survivants d’Ebola qui essaient de reprendre une vie normale. Il devient de plus en plus clair que la sortie d’une UTE n’est que le commencement. Les pays touchés par Ebola ont également un long chemin à parcourir pour se relever», constate le Dr Anders Nordström, Représentant de l’OMS en Sierra Leone.

Un plan complet de soins pour les survivants d’Ebola

Ce sont quelques-unes des conclusions d’une réunion scientifique sur les besoins des survivants, organisée par l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé à Freetown (Sierra Leone) avec des cliniciens, des scientifiques, des épidémiologistes et d’autres praticiens de la santé publique.

L'objectif est de produire un «plan complet de soins pour les survivants d’Ebola» et de définir les besoins de la recherche afin d’optimiser les soins cliniques et le bien-être social des personnes concernées.

Les participants ont échangé leurs expériences et leurs données, identifié les lacunes dans les services cliniques et discuté des moyens de les combler, y compris en apportant l’expertise technique et les infrastructures nécessaires.

Ils ont recherché des moyens de faire progresser les réseaux, d’améliorer l’accès aux soins cliniques pour les survivants, d’échanger les données des études en cours et de cerner les principales lacunes dans les connaissances.

L’épidémie d’Ebola sans précédent qui a commencé en Afrique de l’Ouest en décembre 2013 a eu un impact dévastateur sur la région. On estime qu’il y a aujourd’hui plus de 13 000 survivants de la maladie en Guinée, au Libéria et en Sierra Leone.

« C’est une urgence dans l’urgence», a indiqué le Dr Daniel Bausch, membre de l’équipe de l’OMS pour les soins cliniques. «Nous devons aider les gens à s’épanouir, pas seulement à survivre.»

Alors que la mise en place de services de soins destinés aux survivants d’Ebola constitue un besoin urgent, le Dr Nordström a relevé que, de fait, les pays sont globalement des survivants de l’épidémie et que les systèmes de santé doivent être reconstruits pour permettre aux populations de prospérer et pas seulement de se remettre. «L’épidémie d’Ebola a décimé les familles, les systèmes de santé, les économies et les structures sociales. Tous doivent se remettre», a-t-il ajouté.

Pour plus d’informations, merci de prendre contact avec:

Dr Margaret Harris
Chargée de communication, OMS
Tél.: +41 79 603 62 24
Courriel: harrism@who.int

Ebba Kalondo
Chargée de communication, OMS
Tél.: +23 2 76 53 32 84
Courriel: kalondoe@who.int

SUMMARY

• There were 3 confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) reported in the week to 9 August: 2 in Guinea and 1 in Sierra Leone. The total number of confirmed cases for the previous week (week to 2 August) has been revised up from 2 to 3, after one confirmed case from Tonkolili in Sierra Leone was added retrospectively. Case incidence has been below 10 confirmed cases per week for 3 consecutive weeks, but there remains a significant risk of further transmission and an increase in case incidence in the near and medium term. Only 1 of the 3 cases reported in the week to 9 August was a registered contact, but was lost to follow-up and has generated multiple high-risk contacts in several health facilities in Conakry. The detection by post-mortem testing of a confirmed case with a possible link to an unsafe burial in the Moussayah sub-prefecture of Forecariah, Guinea, suggests that transmission may have gone undetected in the community. In addition, a new confirmed case in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown has generated a number of high-risk contacts. Over 1600 contacts remain under observation across 4 prefectures in Guinea and 2 districts in Sierra Leone; compared with over 1800 contacts across 5 prefectures and 4 districts in the previous week.

• Of the 2 confirmed cases reported from Guinea in the week to 9 August, one arose from an unknown source of infection and one was a registered contact who was lost to follow-up. The case reported from Forecariah was identified after post-mortem testing of a community death in the sub-prefecture of Moussayah. Preliminary investigations suggest that the case is linked to attendance of the unsafe burial of a family member who is thought to have died with symptoms compatible with EVD. The other case was reported from the Ratoma area of the capital, Conakry. The case is a registered contact of a known chain of transmission, but was lost to follow-up, and visited several health facilities throughout Conakry whilst symptomatic before being identified as EVD-positive. Many of the high-risk contacts identified in association with the case are health workers. 927 contacts remain under follow-up in 4 western prefectures in Guinea, compared with 1080 in 5 prefectures the previous week. Over half (55%) of all contacts are located in Forecariah, with 40% located in Conakry.

• No new cases were reported from Liberia in the week to 9 August. All contacts in Liberia have now completed their 21-day follow-up period. The last 2 patients with EVD in Liberia were discharged after completing treatment and testing negative for EVD for a second time on 23 July.

• The single confirmed case in Sierra Leone was reported from Freetown (Western Area Urban), and is linked to a branch of the Western Area Urban chain of transmission. The case is an 8 month-old female who had onset of symptoms on 4 August, and who was admitted to Ola During Children’s Hospital in Freetown on 6 August with fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea. A total of 29 high-risk contacts have been identified so far, 24 of whom are currently in voluntary quarantine. A total of 694 contacts remain under follow-up in Sierra Leone, compared with 811 the previous week. The vast majority of contacts, 638, are located in Tonkolili (associated with the case reported in the week ending 26 July), with the remaining 56 located in Freetown.

• For the second consecutive week no health worker infections were reported from any of the affected countries. There have been a total of 880 confirmed health worker infections reported from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone since the start of the outbreak, with 512 reported deaths.

UN Agency Updates

IOM

In response to the new case from Tonkolili, IOM’s health and humanitarian border management project will expand vehicle checkpoint health screening to the Makeni-Tonkolili and Masiaka-Mile 91 highways beginning this week with a rapid deployment of 5 monitors from the Lungi Airport operation and 32 District Health Management Team members.

IOM has provided Infection Prevention and Control training support at Connaught, Princess Christian’s Maternity and Ola During Children hospitals, training over 300 hospital personnel in Freetown. In collaboration with the Ebola Response Consortium, since the first week of July, IOM training staff have been working to support Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) training, ward mentorship for hospital personnel and advanced screening at Connaught Hospital. As of 20 July, IOM in partnership with ERC has begun to roll out similar services and training at Princess Christian Maternity Hospital and Ola During Children’s in Freetown. 2 courses of training are offered– a 3-day IPC course for clinicians and a 2-day IPC course for support staff.

From 22-27 July, IOM trained 128 people, including 113 personnel of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces, on Ebola Infection Prevention and Control in Kambia district.

By Jennifer Lazuta and John Sahr Sahid

FREETOWN/DAKAR, 12 August 2015 (IRIN) - For the last 13 years, Sierra Leone has seen a dramatic decrease in its maternal mortality rate, due in large part to the introduction of free health care for pregnant women. One of the most devastating and yet rarely acknowledged impacts of the Ebola epidemic is that it threatens to undo all this good work.

It’s not just the loss of more than 220 health workers, including many midwives, to the virus, with little training or wiggle-room in the fragile health system to replace those skills. It’s also the lingering fear of hospitals and doctors among the local population, which remains traumatised by an outbreak that has claimed almost 4,000 lives and still sees new infections each week, albeit small numbers.

A World Bank report in July – Healthcare Worker Mortality and the Legacy of the Ebola Epidemic – estimated that Sierra Leone’s maternity mortality rate could increase because of the current crisis by 74 percent, to levels not seen since the end of the civil war in 2002.

“During the Ebola outbreak, there were many challenges that we encountered that led to many pregnant women not coming to the hospital and this may have led to the [recent] increase in death rates [among pregnant women],” A.P. Koroma, medical superintendent at the PCMH (Cottage) Hospital in Freetown, told IRIN.

The hospital has lost 85 mothers since the outbreak was first reported in May 2014, which Koroma said is “definitely a sharp increase compared to previous years.”

“People were, and are [still], afraid,” he added.

Before Ebola came, an average of 10,700 women each year gave birth at Cottage Hospital. Since the outbreak, this number has dropped to 6,723.

The most recent maternal mortality rate is not yet available at the national level, but given the hospital attendance records and the risks of at-home childbirth in Sierra Leone, it is expected to rise.

“During the Ebola outbreak, people had the impression that when they come to the hospital, they may be infected,” Koroma explained. “For those coming to the hospital, we did our best… but some of them came to the hospital late because they were told that if you have bleeding, which is one of the symptoms of Ebola, no nurse or doctor will want to touch a patient until an Ebola test is done, which can take up to three days.”

Others, who did come, died while waiting for the Ebola test results.

The hospital now has access to a rapid diagnostic test, which can give results in less than three hours.

Despite this, and better safety measures generally, many hospital staff are still afraid to tend to pregnant women, given the fact that childbirth puts them in direct contact with bodily fluids.

“When we started hearing of our colleagues dying, everybody was afraid and nobody wanted to even touch a patient,” Koroma explained.

But not all women are staying away.

“Some of my friends said that if I came to the hospital I would get Ebola… so I became afraid,” said 22-year-old Mary Conteh, from Freetown, who gave birth earlier this month. “But later I decided to come to Cottage Hospital…. I thank God I had a safe delivery.”

Shortage of health workers

Sierra Leone lost an estimated seven percent of its nurses and midwives to Ebola, according to the World Bank report – a devastating loss for a country that had just over 100 to begin with.

“This is just a terrible shock to an already weak healthcare system,” said David Evans, Senior Economist at the World Bank Group. “And if one were to put this [loss of health care workers] into actual numbers, that’s an additional 1,850 women dying per year [in Sierra Leone] just as a result that we’ve lost health care workers due to the Ebola epidemic.”

If Sierra Leone is to prevent its maternal mortality rate rising further, experts say more investment is drastically needed to plug the gap in maternal healthcare.

“In terms of response, it’s not rocket science,” Evans said. “These countries and the international communities supporting them need to hire more health workers and provide resources so they are well paid and want to be in Sierra Leone working there. And, as the Ebola epidemic wanes, as it continues, making sure they have protective equipment.”

In the short-term, to avoid a further increase in maternal mortality, Evans suggested a “stop-gap measure” of employing foreign healthcare workers and birth attendants, allowing local capacity to be built up over the longer term.

Women in Sierra Leone say they are praying for just that.

“All I want is to have a healthy baby,” said 25-year-old Frances Tucker, who is five months pregnant. “I don’t want to have problems like other pregnant women have had by staying at home, afraid of coming to the hospital… putting you and your baby’s life at risk.”

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Monrovia/Dakar, 12 août 2015 (IRIN) - L'épidémie d'Ebola en Afrique de l'Ouest est peut-être sur le déclin, mais en Guinée, au Liberia et en Sierra Leone, les survivants ne sont pas au bout de leurs peines.

Outre les problèmes psychosociaux liés à la stigmatisation et au trouble de stress post-traumatique, plus de la moitié des survivants se sont plaints de douleurs articulaires débilitantes, de céphalées et de fatigue. Au moins 25 pour cent des survivants sont touchés, à des degrés divers, par des problèmes de vue et bon nombre d'entre eux sont presque aveugles, d'après l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS).

« J'ai été guéri d'Ebola en octobre dernier, mais depuis, je souffre de douleurs articulaires sévères », a dit à IRIN Kebeh Jomah, 45 ans, qui vit à Monrovia. « Parfois, j'ai tellement mal que je ne peux pas marcher… Je ne sors quasiment plus. Je reste à la maison toute la journée et je pleure parce que j'ai mal aux articulations ».

Chris Tuan, un Libérien de 18 ans, a dit que sa vue s'était détériorée depuis sa sortie du centre de traitement d'Ebola au mois de novembre.

« Je ne vois quasiment plus rien de loin », a-t-il dit. « Petit à petit, je perds la vue. Je suis inquiet. Parfois, je suis incapable de marcher tout seul. Quelqu'un doit m'aider à me déplacer... Je ne plaisante pas ».

Mystère médical

Les médecins et les spécialistes du virus disent ne pas savoir pourquoi les survivants d'Ebola souffrent d'effets secondaires persistants – bon nombre de médecins parlent de « syndrome post-Ebola » - plusieurs mois après leur guérison. Ils ne savent pas non plus pourquoi les symptômes se manifestent différemment et à des degrés divers selon les patients.

« Nous avons des résultats très provisoires – et je souligne à nouveau leur caractère provisoire – qui suggèrent qu'un patient qui a développé la maladie de manière plus sévère, plus aiguë, peut être confronté à une maladie chronique plus sévère après la phase initiale de guérison », a dit le docteur Daniel Bausch, spécialiste des maladies infectieuses cliniques pour l'OMS.

Mais si les études sur les épidémies précédentes ont montré que le virus subsiste parfois dans certaines parties du corps auxquelles le système immunitaire n'a pas accès, et ce, même plusieurs mois après la guérison, M. Bausch a dit que personne ne sait pourquoi certains patients souffrent d'autres problèmes physiques, comme des céphalées et des douleurs articulaires, dans des parties du corps auxquelles le système immunitaire a accès.

« Il y a un grand déficit de connaissances, nous devons le combler en renforçant la recherche », a dit M. Bausch.

Il y a eu moins de personnes infectées et moins de survivants au cours des épidémies précédentes, alors il était difficile de mener des études de grande ampleur.

Aujourd'hui, on compte plus de 13 000 survivants dans les trois pays les plus affectés ; les spécialistes ont donc l'opportunité de mieux cerner les différents effets à long terme du virus Ebola.

Mais réaliser ces études peut s'avérer difficile, car les tests doivent être réalisés dans des infrastructures de sécurité biologiques spéciales et ils sont parfois invasifs pour le survivant.

« Il serait difficile… de réaliser des recherches, par exemple, d'éliminer le virus présent dans l’œil, car la procédure est relativement compliquée et elle nécessite de mettre une aiguille dans l’œil de quelqu'un – c'est [une chose] que peu d'entre vous accepterait de subir », a expliqué M. Bausch.

Besoin de soins

Il faut non seulement améliorer la compréhension des effets à long terme d'Ebola, mais aussi répondre aux besoins les plus pressants des survivants : les soins.

« Quand on parle de douleurs articulaires, cela peut sembler bénin, [mais] cela peut être un vrai problème pour beauccoup de personnes », a dit M. Bausch, avant d'expliquer que bon nombre d'habitants des trois pays dépendent de l'agriculture et d'autres travaux manuels pour vivre, mais qu'ils sont dans l'incapacité de reprendre leur travail et de subvenir aux besoins de leur famille.

En ce qui concerne les problèmes de vue, si une inflammation - qui cause les problèmes de vue - n'est pas traitée, la personne peut devenir aveugle, a expliqué l'OMS.

Mais il n'existe pas de traitement connu pour guérir ces maladies et il y a peu d'ophtalmologistes qualifiés. La Sierra Leone, par exemple, n'en compte que deux.

Les médecins expliquent qu'ils traitent les symptômes au cas par cas et utilisent des médicaments classiques, comme des gouttes ophtalmiques ou des analgésiques contre les douleurs articulatoires.

L'OMS travaille avec les gouvernements et les organisations au niveau local pour entrer en contact avec les survivants installés dans les différentes régions des trois pays, créer des cliniques ophtalmiques mobiles et offrir des traitements contre les maladies dont souffrent les survivants.

Au Liberia, la première clinique pour les survivants d'Ebola vient d'ouvrir ses portes à l'hôpital ELWA, situé en périphérie de Monrovia. La clinique, financée par l'organisation caritative Serving in Mission, basée aux États-Unis, offre gratuitement des consultations, des soins et des médicaments aux survivants.

Le docteur John Fankhauser, directeur médical adjoint de l'hôpital ELWA, a dit que ses services recevaient plus d'une vingtaine de patients par jour.

« Nous voyons beaucoup de problèmes musculaires, de personnes qui ont des douleurs intenses dans les hanches, les articulations et les genoux », a dit M. Fankhauser. « Certaines d'entre elles ont même du mal à franchir le seuil de la clinique. Et ce sont des patients qui souffrent depuis des mois [sans recevoir de soins] ».

Bon nombre de personnes espèrent que la clinique leur apportera de l'aide.

« Mon bébé que vous voyez là a survécu à Ebola », a dit Morris Kollie, qui attendait dans la clinique pour les survivants. « Grâce à Dieu, il a survécu et il vient d'avoir cinq [ans] cette année. Mais il se plaint toujours de céphalées sévères et de douleurs. Nous l'avons emmené partout, mais il n'est pas encore guéri ».

pc/jl/ag-mg/amz Theme (s): Ebola Crisis, Santé et nutrition

Dakar, Sénégal | AFP | mercredi 12/08/2015 - 18:43 GMT

Les mesures d'hygiène imposées dans les écoles dans le cadre de la lutte contre Ebola en Guinée, au Liberia et en Sierra Leone ont permis de réduire considérablement les infections parmi les élèves et enseignants de ces pays, les plus touchés, affirme mercredi l'Unicef.

En raison de l'épidémie, "quelque cinq millions d'enfants ont perdu plusieurs mois" de cours dans les trois pays, où les écoles ont été fermées "de juillet 2014 jusqu'aux premiers mois de 2015", rappelle le Fonds des Nations unies pour l'enfance dans un communiqué.

"Aucun cas d'infection d'élève ou d'enseignant n'a été signalé depuis que les procédures strictes d'hygiène (y) ont été imposées" à la réouverture des classes", à l'exception du Liberia, où deux écoles ont été décontaminées après le décès d'un élève en juin, et la contamination d'un autre en juillet, indique-t-il.

Ces procédures, "établies par l'Unicef et ses partenaires, comprennent la prise des températures des élèves et du personnel enseignant à l'entrée des écoles" et l'utilisation de stations de lavage des mains dans les établissements, explique-t-il.

En outre, des millions de savonnettes et du chlore ont été distribués, et des dizaines de milliers d'enseignants et personnels administratifs ont été formés pour la mise en oeuvre de ces procédures et pour être en mesure de fournir un soutien psychosocial, autant de choses ayant nécessité "des mois de préparation", ajoute-t-il.

"Les efforts massifs déployés pour mettre les écoles à l'abri de la transmission d'Ebola autant que possible semblent avoir payé", se réjouit Geoff Wiffin, représentant de l'Unicef en Sierra Leone, cité dans le communiqué.

"Les enfants ont appris à l'école comment se protéger et comment protéger les autres contre le virus Ebola, et ils ont transmis ces messages à leurs parents et à leurs communautés. Cela a joué un rôle important" dans la lutte contre l'épidémie, dit M. Wiffin.

Selon l'Unicef, en raison du succès de ces mesures, la Guinée-Bissau, pays voisin de la Guinée où aucun cas n'a cependant été déclaré, a commencé à mettre en place des procédures similaires à titre préventif.

Partie en décembre 2013 du Sud guinéen, l'épidémie d'Ebola en Afrique de l'Ouest a fait près de 11.300 morts sur près de 28.000 cas, à plus de 99% en Guinée, en Sierra Leone et au Liberia, selon l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS).

Durant la dernière semaine de relevé épidémiologique (du 2 au 9 août), seuls trois nouveaux cas ont été recensés: un en Sierra Leone et deux en Guinée, d'après le rapport hebdomadaire de l'OMS publié mercredi.

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© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Freetown, Tuesday 10 August 2015: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have kick-started a 12-months post-Ebola project for 800 Ebola burial team and infection control and prevention volunteers who worked with the Sierra Leone Red Cross. The project seeks to rehabilitate and reintegrate Safe and Dignified Burial (SDB) team workers into their communities and help them with psychosocial counselling, vocational and skills training to enable them access economic and livelihood opportunities.

The Reintegration of Sierra Leone Red Cross Volunteers project, to the tune of USD 1.975.639, will initially target about 800 Red Cross frontline responders of the more than 2,300 active volunteer. These Red Cross Safe and Dignified Burial team volunteers come from myriad of backgrounds and geographic areas, including students and unemployed youths. They were at the forefront in the Ebola response and were instrumental in halting the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone, but suffered great psychological stress and stigma from their work. As the Ebola response winds down and hazard pay draws to a close, some of them would be without jobs, and those of school-going age would return to school.

Moulaye Camara, the Head of Delegation for IFRC in Sierra Leone says the project will mainly target Kono and Kenema districts, adding: “This is a good starting point of a long-term partnership between IFRC and UNDP, with the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) which will benefit the Safe and Dignified Burial Teams, that will help us to reintegrate them in their communities after the good work they did for the past year.”

UNDP Country Director, Sudipto Mukerjee says “This is definitely a very good start. I’m delighted to be part of this historic moment for two reasons: one, the coming together of two very important bodies who have been involved in Ebola Response, and also working together in Ebola Recovery; and two, because this is the first such agreement between the two organizations. Communities need to embrace these young people as heroes of the society.” Mr. Mukerjee said.

Mr. Mukerjee also noted that the project is the first Ebola recovery initiative that UNDP, IFRC and Sierra Leone Red Cross will undertake. Reintegrating Safe and Dignified Burial team members signals the end stages of the epidemic, it is important that agencies start working with communities most affected by the epidemic.

As part of the Ebola response, IFRC was given the lead coordination role for Safe and Dignified Burials (SDB) at the Ebola Response Conference in Accra, convened in October 2014 by the UN. IFRC, together with Sierra Leone Red Cross and its network of branches and these 800 dedicated volunteers undertook this major role in conducting safe and dignified burials and infection prevention and control. They have been responsible for conducting approximately 50% of the safe and dignified burials in Sierra Leone under the emergency Ebola response.

UNDP was tasked by the UN Secretary-General to lead the UN’s crisis recovery work in the three hardest-hit countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, whilst continuing to support the country’s efforts to get to zero Ebola cases, UNDP helped the government develop the country’s National Ebola Recovery Strategy.

UNDP’s own recovery action plan, titled ‘Restoring Livelihoods and Fostering Economic Recovery’ spans 18 months, and supports the country’s recovery efforts with a focus in helping rebuild the livelihoods of those most affected, strengthen the government’s capacity to restore essential services and to ensure a rapid return to a sustainable development path, while preserving and promoting peace, stability and social cohesion.

For more information, please contact: Abdul Karim Bah Communications Lead, UNDP Sierra Leone. Email: abdul-karim.bah@undp.org.

Lisa Pattison, Media & Communications Delegate Sierra Leone, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Mobile: +232 78805741, Email lisa.pattison@ifrc.org.

Abubakar Tarawallie, Head of Communications, Sierra Leone Red Cross Society. Mobile: +232 76 624511. Email: btarawallie@sierraleoneredcross.org.

HIGHLIGHTS

• In the week to 2 August 2015, there was one confirmed Ebola case, down from three cases the previous week. The case was reported from a quarantined home in Massesgbeh village, Kholifa Rowala chiefdom in Tonkolili, a district with 11 chiefdoms.

• 44 community leaders and 34 religious leaders are supporting community engagement activities in Tonkolili. In addition, eight Integrated Rapid Response teams, including a social mobilizer and an Ebola survivor, have been deployed to Massesgbeh village to ensure an integrated response and to gain the trust of quarantined families.

• Over 1,784 people were engaged through community meetings and inter-personal communication in Tonkolili district. Five local community radio stations have also been engaged to provide a platform for different Ebola response pillars to engage local communities through interactive radio programming.

• In Kambia, community-based social mobilizers from Restless Development and other partners supported by UNICEF engaged 12,897 people from 499 communities (1,135 households) in hotspots and border communities through community meetings and interpersonal communication. 811 community leaders were also engaged.

• UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources and District Ebola Response Centre, supported the delivery of 75,000 litres of water to quarantined households in Massesgbeh village, Tonkolili district. Six water tanks, with a 21,400 litre storage capacity, were installed in the village, benefitting approx. 634 people in the 50 quarantined households.

• Last week, UNICEF distributed play and recreational materials (toys, note books, pencils and chargeable lights) to 267 quarantined children in Massesgbeh village, Tonkolili district.

• UNICEF supported the re-opening of Magboraka Observational Interim Care Centre and provided supplies, including a generator and Family Tracing and Reunification kits, to ensure that the facility is fully operational.

• In Porto Loko district, 18 quarantined households with 108 people were provided with hygiene kits and replenishment supplies of 1,200 bars of laundry and bathing soap. There was no demand for hygiene kits in Kambia district as there were no new quarantined households.