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Background Reports
The Fight against Lassa Fever in Ebonyi State, Nigeria: A Clash of the People’s Culture and Broadcast Media Campaign
Ebonyi State of Nigeria is among the states where the incidence of Lassa Fever has become endemic; and has consequently led to the death of many people including health practitioners in the state. To mobilise the people against the disease,…
Background Reports
Structural Drivers of Vulnerability to Zoonotic Disease in Africa
This paper argues that addressing the underlying structural drivers of disease vulnerability is essential for a ‘One Health’ approach to tackling zoonotic diseases in Africa. Through three case studies-trypanosomiasis in Zimbabwe, Ebola and Lassa Fever in Sierra Leone and Rift…
Briefings
Strengthening Health Systems for Resilience
In countries with high levels of poverty or instability and with poor health system management and governance, people are highly vulnerable to shocks associated with ill health, including major epidemics. An effective health system can help build their resilience by…
Background Reports
Socio-cultural Determinants of Human-Bat Interaction in Rural Ghana
Bats are known to be a natural reservoir for a lot of disease pathogens and can spread several diseases. All 11 genera of fruit bat found in West Africa are found in Ghana, and human-bat interactions are common. However, there…
Background Reports
Socio Cultural Perceptions of Communities in Kassena-Nankana District of Upper East Region towards Cerebro Spinal Meningitis
Perceptions of the causes of Cerebrospinal Meningitis, its treatment and prevention, as well as reasons for the blatant refusal by some sections of the communities to vaccinate against the disease in the wake of the big epidemic of the meningitis…
Briefings
Social Mobilization and Community Engagement Central to the Ebola Response in West Africa: Lessons for Future Public Health Emergencies.
Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in July 2014, UNICEF was asked to co-lead, in coordination with WHO and the ministries of health of…
Background Reports
Rat-Atouille: A Mixed Method Study to Characterize Rodent Hunting and Consumption in the Context of Lassa Fever
Lassa Fever is a zoonotic hemorrhagic illness predominant in areas across Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and southern Mali. The reservoir of Lassa virus is the multimammate mouse (Mastomys natalensis), a highly commensal species in West Africa. Primary transmission to…
Background Reports
Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Knowledge, Attitudes and Social Representations of Cholera in the Extreme Northern Region of Cameroon: The Case of Maroua I, Maroua Ii and Mokolo
An effective fight against Cholera requires an in-depth consideration of the knowledge, attitudes and social representations of Cholera within a population. Cholera outbreaks persist in the Extreme North of Cameroon because of the inadequate integration of representations of Cholera, water…
Background Reports
Briefings
Preliminary Assessment of Lake Ntomba Fisheries
In May 2007, a WorldFish team traveled to the Lake Télé-Lake Ntomba Landscape in the Democratic Republic of Congo to conduct a preliminary assessment of the Lake Ntomba fishery. Primary data were collected through rapid rural assessment techniques in seven…
Briefings
Power, Fairness and Trust: Understanding and Engaging with Vaccine Trial Participants and Communities in the Setting Up the EBOVAC-Salone Vaccine Trial in Sierra Leone
This paper discusses the establishment of a clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine candidate in Kambia District, Northern Sierra Leone during the epidemic, and analyses the role of social science research in ensuring that lessons from the socio-political context, the…
Background Reports
Participation of Women and Children in Hunting Activities in Sierra Leone and Implications for Control of Zoonotic Infections
The emergence of infectious diseases of zoonotic origin highlights the need to understand social practices at the animal-human interface. This study provides a qualitative account of interactions between humans and wild animals in predominantly Mende villages of southern Sierra Leone.…
Background Reports
NGO Report on Indigenous Pygmy Peoples: Universal Periodic Review of the Democratic Republic of Congo
This alternative report has been prepared by non-governmental organisations of indigenous Pygmy peoples and their supporters: 15 non-governmental organisations that work with indigenous peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Its aim is to present a picture of the situation of…
