Social Science in Epidemics: Influenza and SARS Lessons Learned

On 14 September 2018, medical workers check on patients at an Ebola treatment centre in Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo, after a recent outbreak of the deadly disease. Since the Ebola outbreak was declared on 1 August 2018, UNICEF has collaborated with community, youth and religious leaders to reach more than 3.3 million people with Ebola prevention and advocacy messages. UNICEF is expanding its Ebola response and deploying to Butembo a team of 11 specialists in community communication, education, psycho-social assistance, and water, sanitation and hygiene to help contain the disease and avoid any further spread of the epidemic. While expanding its response to the city of Butembo, UNICEF continues to work with its partners in Mangina and Beni. Since the beginning of the outbreak, UNICEF has collaborated with community, youth and religious leaders to reach more than 3.3 million people with Ebola prevention and advocacy messages. UNICEF is working with local communities and Ebola survivors to ensure that the strategies put in place are effective and sustainable, and to defuse local resistance against the Ebola response, especially in the Ndindi neighbourhood of Beni. UNICEF multidisciplinary teams include anthropologists, who ensure that the response is sensitive to cultural believes and practices, particularly around caring for sick and diseased individuals, and addressing populations’ concerns about secure and dignified burials. In Ndindi, local committees are working hand-in-hand with UNICEF to identify and implement sensitization activities. Local committees have contributed to the setting up of sensitization trucks with megaphones driving through the neighbourhood.