An Epidemiologist and Public Health Specialist, Dr Freddy Banza, has shared his experience while working with the communities to eradicate Ebola.
Dr Banza, who works with the World Health Organization’s Ebola Response Team, said some of the communities he and his team worked with were receptive and “fought with him” to eradicate Ebola while in other communities, stones were thrown at them.
In his words, the Medical Practitioner who joined WHO in 2012 said, “In some places, they threw stones at us, but in others, community leaders became engaged and fought alongside us for the survival of their people.”
Dr Banza expresses the importance of community collaboration in achieving an Ebola free community stating that, “Gaining community trust and acceptance has proven critical armour in combating the world’s second worst Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).”
He narrated one of his experiences in DRC which happened in October 2019, when a family fled into the forest after burying their kin suspected to have died from Ebola – without seeking the help of the Ebola Response Team responsible for safe and dignified burials – and handling bodies without the appropriate protection – an act he claimed to be extremely dangerous.
He further stated that the positive involvement of the village chief eased the village, especially the family, the risks of further infections by retrieving the family and making them available for vaccination.
WHO Assistant Director General for Emergencies, Dr Ibrahim Soce-Fall also expressed the importance of community participation.
“The end of the Ebola epidemic will require that communities take ownership of the response,” he said.
Dr Banza added that community involvement usually propels him to keep working to save lives.
“When I see the communities get involved, it gives me the strength and motivation to keep working to save lives,” he added.
