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Field notes

Community-Based Ebola Care Centres: A Formative Evaluation

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa differed from others in its unprecedented size and the high proportion of human-to-human transmission occurring in the community. This report presents an analysis of the impact of Community Care Centres (CCCs) on communities in…
2015
Background report

Ebola Crisis Appeal – Response Review

This is the review of the Ebola Crisis Appeal Response in Sierra Leone of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) that unites 13 of the largest UK humanitarian charities to raise funds in response to major international humanitarian crises. The review…
2015
Briefing

Resistance in Guinea

There have been numerous recent analyses of the different manifestations of ‘resistance’ and ‘reticence’ that continue to be critical in Guinea. The socio-historical context that has contributed to deep-rooted mistrust of the State and authority (a sense of ‘abandonment’ [the…
2015
Field notes

A year on, Guineans finally lay Ebola souls to rest

GUECKEDOU, 28 April 2015 (IRIN) – Forty-six-year-old Maurice Ouendeno stares silently at the arm of his blue plastic lawn chair. He waits a few minutes before beginning his story. “They said we did not have the right to bury him,”…
2015
Briefing

Policy Briefing on Community-based Ebola Care Centres

A component of the Ebola epidemic control policy in Sierra Leone is triage and isolation in decentralised Community Care Centres (CCCs) or Holding Units, from where transfer to Ebola treatment units (ETUs) is arranged for those diagnosed as positive. The…
2015
Field notes

Ebola’s Ecologies – Limn January 2015 Issue

This issue of Limn on “Ebola’s Ecologies” examines how the 2014 Ebola outbreak has put the norms, practices, and institutional logics of global health into question, and examines the new assemblages that are being forged in its wake. The contributions…
2015
Field notes

What causes Ebola Virus disease?

The four villages in this report are found on the edge of the Gola Rainforest National Park, Sierra Leone and have been studied by members of the present team at intervals since 1987. The aim of this long-term study was…
2015
Blog

Unsung Heroes on the Ebola Frontline

The “selflessness of aid workers and medical volunteers” was praised both by the Queen in her Christmas message and by TIME magazine, who named ‘The Ebola Fighter’s their person of the year 2014. This emphasis on international staff, particularly doctors and nurses, gives a…
2015
Research paper

Do traditions spread Ebola?

In a recent interesting contribution to this platform, Paul Richards rightly questioned the mainstream perception that funerals per se are source of contamination in countries affected by ebola. The author argues that funerals are phenomena which are extremely interrelated to…
2015
Briefing

Anthropology & Ebola Clinical Research

The Working Group on Clinial Trials coordinated by the Ebola Response Anthropology Platform has produced a working document which considers the clinical trials that are planned as part of the Ebola outbreak response from a sociological and anthropological perspective. The document develops…
2014
Research paper

Briefing: Ebola – myths, realities, and structural violence

The scale of West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has been attributed to the weak health systems of affected countries, their lack of resources, the mobility of communities and their inexperience in dealing with Ebola. This briefing for African Affairs argues that…
2014
Briefing

Identifying and Enrolling Survivors to Donate Blood

Survivors are rapidly becoming a strategic population for the Ebola Outbreak response. The public health potential of this group appear to be manifold—from safe burials and the care for orphan children to community outreach and the donation of blood for…
2014
Research paper

Infectious disease: Tough choices to reduce Ebola transmission

Christopher J. M. Whitty and colleagues explain why the United Kingdom is funding many small community centres to isolate suspected cases in Sierra Leone. The UK government is leading the international response to Ebola in Sierra Leone, providing technical, financial…
2014
Briefing

Do Funerals Spread Ebola?

Some attention has been paid to the alleged role of funerals in spreading Ebola Virus Disease in Upper West Africa.  This has led to attempts to control funerals, causing both distress and active resistance.  Critical examination of the role of…
2014
Briefing

Increasing early presentation to ECU through improving care

Current Ebola epidemic control policy in Sierra Leone focuses on (a) triage and isolation in decentralised, ideally community-based Ebola Care Units (ECUs), leading to (b) transfer to Ebola treatment units (ETUs) for those diagnosed as positive. Increasing early presentation to ECUs…
2014
Briefing

Mobilising youth for Ebola education: Sierra Leone and Liberia

This brief summarises some key considerations about mobilising youth and youth groups in the Ebola response in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The details have been collated from suggestions and insights provided by networks of anthropologists in the UK and US…
2014
Briefing

Sierra Leone: Gift giving during initial community consultations

This brief summarises appropriate gift giving during initial community consultations in Sierra  Leone. It is intended to provide an overview of good practices to support UNICEF, the WHO and other agencies as they interact with Paramount Chiefs prior the implementation…
2014
Briefing

The AAA/Wenner-Gren Ebola Emergency Response Workshop

As of November 4, 2014, the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is confirmed to have infected 13,268 individuals, with 4,960 total deaths estimated. The global Ebola response is evolving rapidly, and as it has evolved, it has become increasingly apparent…
2014
Policy document

Care and Burial Practices in Urban Sierra Leone

Funeral practices in Freetown are varied with differences between typical Muslim and Christian practices. Muslims typically bury the body the same day, or the day after, the death, whereas Christians might wait for up to several weeks while arrangements are…
2014
Blog

Ebola strips Africans of their humanity

After long months of relative silence, the world finally heatedly debates on Ebola. The quantity of aid is widely considered to be the major problem. The quality of the aid being offered however, is not under scrutiny. Everybody seems to…
2015
Research paper

Gendered War and Rumors of Saddam Hussein in Uganda

This article discusses the role of rumors in everyday Acholi life in war-torn northern Uganda. These rumors concern various health threats such as HIV and Ebola. The rumors are closely associated with the forces of domination that are alleged to…
2009
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