Hrdličková Zuzana, Macarthy Joseph Mustapha, Conteh Abu, Ali S Harris, Blango Victoria, Sesay Alpha
Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC), Sierra Leone.
Njala University (NU) and Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC), Sierra Leone.
Heliyon. 2023 Jun 28;9(7):e17425. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17425. eCollection 2023 Jul.
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa (2013-2016) was a learning process for all - the population, health experts and practitioners, as well as government structures. Learning occurred in all stages of the response, from the initial lack of clarity and denial of Ebola's existence that contributed to public confusion; to the eventual acceptance of the existence of the Ebola threat whereupon fear and stigmatization reigned; to the later stages in which community engagement and ownership of the response arose. In this paper we describe how two urban poor communities in informal settlements in the Western Area of Sierra Leone responded to Ebola Virus Disease and how they deployed efficient strategies like the development and implementation of by-laws for monitoring and surveillance, thus helping to curb the epidemic. For future public health emergencies, we recommend that community engagement be pursued earlier and that efforts are made to ensure two-way knowledge exchange between responders and community stakeholders.
西非埃博拉疫情（2013 - 2016年）对所有人来说都是一个学习过程，包括普通民众、健康专家与从业者以及政府机构。在应对疫情的各个阶段都有经验教训，从最初对埃博拉存在的认识模糊和否认导致公众困惑，到最终承认埃博拉威胁的存在，随之恐惧和污名化盛行，再到后期社区参与和对应对措施的自主掌控逐渐形成。在本文中，我们描述了塞拉利昂西部地区两个非正规住区的城市贫困社区如何应对埃博拉病毒病，以及它们如何部署有效的策略，如制定和实施监测及监督细则，从而有助于遏制疫情。对于未来的突发公共卫生事件，我们建议更早地推动社区参与，并努力确保应对者与社区利益相关者之间进行双向知识交流。
