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STORY: LIBERIA / EBOLA & MALNUTRITION
TRT: 1.31
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 5 DECEMBER 2014, MONROVIA, LIBERIA
1. Various shots, community health workers walking through slams
2. Med shot, Ebola education pamphlets
3. Close up, Ebola education pamphlets
4. Med shot, gathered residents
5. Med shot, health worker talking to Josephine
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eddie Oxie, UNICEF community health volunteer:
“I came and saw the child and the child was very dry. You could count all of the rib bones, all of the backbones. So she thought it was Ebola but I said no, ma’am it is not Ebola, it is malnourished. I said why don’t you take the baby to the clinic, she said but where can I get the money from? We don’t have anything and my husband is not working.”
7. Close up, baby
8. Med shot, Josephine showing nutrition packs
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Josephine, mother of SAM baby:
“From the time she started going to the feeding center, she’s alright, I can’t lie. She plays by herself, and sits by herself now.”
10. Med shot, Josephine holding baby and cooking
11. Close up, Josephine and the baby
UNICEF-trained community health workers are conducting door-to-door campaigns to raise awareness about Ebola and malnutrition in urban poor areas in Monrovia.
West Point, the largest urban poor area in Monrovia, went through an attempted quarantine by the government when Ebola spread rapidly through the neighbourhood. It was lifted once residents protested as they lost their jobs and could not move freely.
A health worker explained how Ebola has affected the already poverty-stricken area.
SOUNDBITE (English) Eddie Oxie, UNICEF community health volunteer:
“I came and saw the child and the child was very dry. You could count all of the rib bones, all of the backbones. So she thought it was Ebola but I said no, ma’am it is not Ebola, it is malnourished. I said why don’t you take the baby to the clinic, she said but where can I get the money from? We don’t have anything and my husband is not working.”
Malnutrition has always been a problem but now Ebola means that healthcare workers must assess for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) without touching babies or mothers.
A mother, Josephine, explained that her child became malnourished when she stopped producing breast milk. Her husband lost his job during the quarantine period and they did not have the means to take the child to a health clinic. She has been affected by Ebola indirectly as food prices rise.
SOUNDBITE (English) Josephine, mother of SAM baby:
“From the time she started going to the feeding centre, she’s alright, I can’t lie. She plays by herself, and sits by herself now."
The mother was able to take her child to a health clinic, received Plumpy Nut high nutrition biscuits and is now much better once identified by a UNICEF-trained healthcare worker.
