By: Andrew Schroeder, Ph.D., MPP., VP of Research and Analysis, Direct Relief
Response to every epidemic outbreak rests on two critical tools: trust and reliable information. During the response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, many in the global health, emergency medicine and disaster response communities did heroic work. But what really made a difference in the end to stopping the spread of the virus was behavior change and the self-organized activity of local communities. Villages that altered their burial practices, their travel routes, and even their handshakes ultimately snuffed out the last cases of Ebola from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
To do this, they needed to know which messages to trust and which practices to follow. They also needed regular support and care in order to make these behavioral transitions happen, including communications campaigns, community health workers, functional supply chains, and regular infusions of
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