Anfaara Florence Wullo, Lawson Erica S, Atuoye Kilian Nasung, Luginaah Isaac
Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Global Development Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 18;20(6):e0325496. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325496. eCollection 2025.
The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa showed that multiple response strategies are necessary to contain disease outbreaks in resource-constrained settings. A critical component of these response strategies was the involvement of community members and women's groups in leading them. While women's groups actively participated in Ebola containment strategies in various communities, there is a dearth of research on their role or how their presence in communities affected the deployment of Ebola response strategies. In contributing to bridging this knowledge gap, we ask: How did the presence of women's groups influence perceptions of Ebola response strategies in Ebola-affected communities in Liberia?.
We fitted multivariate multinomial logistic regression models to cross-sectional data (n = 1,340) collected in five counties in Liberia. We built a composite model from community response strategies that participants reported witnessing. These responses were then categorized into no response, single-response, and multiple-response strategies. Response strategies included Ebola education and sensitisation campaigns, community surveillance, lobbying for personal protective equipment (PPEs), and other measures (e.g., prayer). Single responses pertain to participants choosing only one response strategy, while multiple responses indicate the selection of two or more response strategies.
Overall, we found that knowledge about the presence of women's groups was associated with an increased likelihood of participants reporting having witnessed a community response during the Ebola outbreak. Specifically, participants who reported having women's groups in their communities had 89% and 98% higher odds of reporting a single Ebola response (RRR = 1.89, p ≤ 0.001) and multiple responses (RRR = 1.98, p ≤ 0.001), respectively. We also found some demographic, socioeconomic, and place-based variables to be associated with Ebola response strategies.
We provide relevant policy recommendations necessary to center women's groups and other community organisations in Liberia's strategic health plan toward a pandemic-ready future. We believe that strengthening local, national, and international collaborations is critical to achieving this future and can help the country reach its SDG 3.3 goal of ending infectious diseases by 2030.
2014 - 2016年西非埃博拉疫情表明，在资源有限的环境中控制疾病爆发需要多种应对策略。这些应对策略的一个关键组成部分是社区成员和妇女团体参与引领应对工作。虽然妇女团体积极参与了各个社区的埃博拉疫情控制策略，但关于她们的作用或她们在社区中的存在如何影响埃博拉应对策略的部署，研究却很匮乏。为填补这一知识空白，我们提出问题：妇女团体的存在如何影响利比里亚受埃博拉影响社区对埃博拉应对策略的认知？
我们对在利比里亚五个县收集的横断面数据（n = 1340）拟合了多元多项逻辑回归模型。我们根据参与者报告目睹的社区应对策略构建了一个综合模型。这些应对措施随后被分为无应对、单一应对和多重应对策略。应对策略包括埃博拉教育和宣传活动、社区监测、争取个人防护装备（PPE）以及其他措施（如祈祷）。单一应对是指参与者仅选择一种应对策略，而多重应对则表示选择两种或更多应对策略。
总体而言，我们发现了解妇女团体的存在与参与者报告在埃博拉疫情期间目睹社区应对的可能性增加有关。具体而言，报告社区中有妇女团体的参与者报告单一埃博拉应对措施（相对风险比RRR = 1.89，p≤0.001）和多重应对措施（RRR = 1.98，p≤0.001）的几率分别高出89%和98%。我们还发现一些人口统计学、社会经济和基于地点的变量与埃博拉应对策略相关。
我们提供了相关政策建议，这些建议对于将妇女团体和其他社区组织纳入利比里亚面向大流行准备未来的战略卫生计划至关重要。我们认为加强地方、国家和国际合作对于实现这一未来至关重要，并且有助于该国实现到2030年终结传染病的可持续发展目标3.3。
