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STORY: DRC / EBOLA
TRT: 02:46
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 14 FEBRUARY 2020, BENI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC)
1. Wide shot, aerial view of Beni
2. Wide shot, tilt down, aerial view of guesthouse for Ebola contacts
3. Various shots, children playing football inside voluntary isolation site
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Papy Musas, Beni Field Coordinator, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We have had a lot of success because here, we are easily extracting people [confirmed with Ebola] in time and bringing them to the [Ebola] transit centre. The earlier the person is found, the more likely they are to recover. And when people [who have Ebola] stay in the community and we don't know where they are, if we get them out too late, the chances of dying are greater. That's how it is with this system. It allows us to extract people in time. And then they go to the transit centre, and the earlier they are taken care of, that makes it possible to treat more people successfully.”
5. Wide shot, Zoe Kyavaghandi holding a meeting at isolation site with high-risk contacts (people at risk of Ebola because of their contact with someone confirmed to have had Ebola)
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Zoe Kyavaghandi, Risk Communications Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I show them the risks, they make a commitment, they come and stay here with us and then we monitor them and try to limit the contact.”
7. Various shots, Zoe Kyavaghandi holding a meeting at isolation site with high-risk contacts
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Zoe Kyavaghandi, Risk Communications Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Yes, we do activities with them, we do education with the psychologists, we do talks and interviews, so we are always with them, we talk to renew confidence again.”
9. Various shots, families and children dancing in the guesthouse
10. Various shots, lunch being served at the guesthouse
11. Wide shot, women and children at the guesthouse
12. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Doti Kavugho, Aunt of an Ebola victim:
“I am here to be monitored for twenty-one days. We were in mourning. To be well followed and to have the results of the follow-up we prefer to be in the guesthouse.”
13. Wide shot, women and children at site
14. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Doti Kavugho, Aunt of an Ebola victim:
“I know why we are here, it is so that they are able to follow us, with attention and care. Because the monitoring of each of us, at home, it is difficult. At least at the guesthouse, it makes it easier.”
15. Wide shots, streets of Beni
Significant progress has been made containing the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with cases down from more than 120 per week in mid-April 2019 to between zero and three cases per week in the last four weeks. New cases in the last 21 days have been confined to one health zone.
In the epicentre of the outbreak in the city of Beni, a plan developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the DRC Ministry of Health is simplifying the complex work of following people who have been in contact with someone confirmed to have Ebola virus disease. This new strategy has been applied since December 2019. People considered high-risk contacts - those who are most likely to become infected and potentially pass on the illness - have the option of staying in a specially adapted guesthouse for 21-days, which is the incubation period for Ebola. Meals and daily medical checks are provided. This approach enables people to get to medical care immediately after developing symptoms and also reduces the risk to the community by limiting the possibility of spreading the disease.
SOUNDBITE (French) Papy Musas, Beni Field Coordinator, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We have had a lot of success because here, we are easily extracting people [confirmed with Ebola] in time, and bringing them to the [Ebola] transit centre. The earlier the person is found, the more likely they are to recover. And when people [who have Ebola] stay in the community and we don't know where they are, if we get them out too late, the chances of dying are greater. That's how it is with this system. It allows us to extract people in time. And then they go to the transit centre, and the earlier they are taken care of, that makes it possible to treat more people successfully.”
People who wish to stay at the centre do so voluntarily and only after providing informed consent.
Zoe Kyavaghandi works on the community engagement team and now runs the accommodation site on behalf of WHO. After someone is confirmed to have Ebola in the community the people they have had contact with are identified. Zoe visits these contacts accompanied by a psychologist and a member of a surveillance team, to explain the risks of their status, and the advantages of the voluntary isolation programme. Contacts can then opt to visit the site, where residents and staff are ready to answer their questions. This is usually the deciding factor, Zoe said, because afterwards people can describe the site to their families and communities, and dispel any myths surrounding voluntary isolation, before they take the decision to be isolated themselves. The visit to the site gives the process credibility in the community.
SOUNDBITE (French) Zoe Kyavaghandi, Risk Communications Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I show them the risks, they make a commitment, they come and stay here with us and then we monitor them and try to limit the contact.”
SOUNDBITE (French) Zoe Kyavaghandi, Risk Communications Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Yes, we do activities with them, we do education with the psychologists, we do talks and interviews, so we are always with them, we talk to renew confidence again.”
Zoe said that most understand the importance of voluntary isolation for their communities and for their own health. And as those who leave the isolation site return home, they bring with them a greater awareness of hygiene and Ebola prevention measures.
