Health workers face suspicion and a lack of cold storage as they test the Ebola vaccine and also try to reach children who have missed inoculations against other diseases.
Briefings
Ebola Vaccine Trial in Sierra Leone Battles Against Fear and Logistics

UNICEF/UNI172225/Kesner
On 29 August in Liberia, a large poster, among those being distributed by UNICEF, is affixed to a door in Dolos Town in Margibi County. The poster bears information and illustrations on the symptoms of EVD and best practices to help prevent its spread. Such preventative practices include washing ones hands with soap and clean water; visiting a health clinic if one experiences a headache, fever, vomiting, pain, diarrhoea, red eyes or a rash; and avoiding risky behaviours such as touching people who have signs of the disease. The poster bears the UNICEF logo.
The worst outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in history continues to ravage communities in West Africa. UNICEF estimates that 8.5 million children and young people under the age of 20 live in areas affected by EVD in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, countries where disease transmission is widespread and intense. Of these, 2.5 million are under the age of 5. Preliminary UNICEF estimates also indicate that at least 3,700 children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have lost one or both parents to EVD since the start of the outbreak. Nigeria and Senegal are also affected, having experienced an initial case or cases, or localized transmission. UNICEF remains at the forefront of efforts to respond to and help curtail the outbreak. In Guinea, UNICEF has been distributing bars of soap, bottles of chlorine for handwashing and household water treatment, and flyers with information on EVD; preventative practices have also been shared through a door-to-door campaign supported by UNICEF and partners. In Liberia, UNICEFs partners, in co-ordination with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), are distributing household protection kits in the hardest-hit areas. The kits contains critical supplies protective gowns, gloves and masks, as well as soap, chlorine and a sprayer, along with instructions on the use and safe disposal of materials
Related content
Tools
Cholera Questions Bank
These resources are intended to support operational social science research to be used in cholera preparedness and response activities.
SSHAP
2023
Report
WHO Multi-country outbreak of cholera, External situation report #1
This report summarises the current status of the cholera outbreak across 24 countries that are reporting cases. WHO has assessed the global risk level as very high.
World Health Organization
2023
Briefings
Key Considerations: Socio-Behavioural Insight For Community-Centred Cholera Preparedness And Response In Mozambique, 2023
This brief explores socio-behavioural determinants including local knowledge, perceptions, practices, and structural factors influencing cholera transmission dynamics. The brief has been developed to support response actors develop prevention and control strategies to rapidly contain the outbreak and prepare for a…
Central and East Africa Hub
SSHAP
2023
Briefing
Social, Behavioural and Community Dynamics Related to the Cholera Outbreak in Malawi
This brief is a rapid synthesis of socio-behavioural evidence relating to the 2022 cholera outbreak in Malawi intended for national and international response partners.
2020