VARIOUS: Ghanaian and Nigerian bloggers and activists take to social media to educate people on Ebola

Record ID: 375761

  • Title: VARIOUS: Ghanaian and Nigerian bloggers and activists take to social media to educate people on Ebola
  • Date: 11th August 2014
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAWULI TSIKATA ONLINE MANAGER, CITI 97.3FM SAYING: "There was a lot of media attention given to educating the public about HIV/AIDS, you'll see a lot of TV ads, there were billboards in town, there were radio commercials and the rest, but in the case of Ebola you don't see anything; you just depend on what the journalists reports to the public so I do
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Ghana
  • City:
  • Country: Ghana Nigeria
  • Topics: Communications,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVA7Y8AF5Y8NKXHM50QM8VQGUQCD
  • Story Text: This is the IDEA hub, in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial. Here, young IT professionals are housed under one roof, all working on new innovative technology solutions.
    Today, 27-year-old Babajide Fadoju is using social media to sensitise people on the risks of Ebola and how to avoid contracting the deadly virus.
    Nigeria has confirmed ten cases of Ebola in Lagos, up from seven at the last count since a man fell sick on arrival from Liberia. Two people have died.
    Several dozen people who came into contact with the man are under surveillance.
    "The most important fact is people have got to know what is actually happening so they know how to combat it, the most important aspect of all the viruses, of all the problems has got to do with talking about it because you need to know what is happening for you to be able to tackle it, so the most important aspect of all things that we do is actually talking about it, hence talking about Ebola is one of the best things that has actually happened with the Ebola virus," he said.
    The techies at IDEA hub are among a group of bloggers and activists in Nigeria who have taken it upon themselves to educate people about Ebola through social media platforms.
    Japhet Omojuwa is a blogger who started the hashtag #FactsOnEbola on Twitter. He says people are more likely to read short and precise messages than longer ones.
    "The people on social media are some of the society's most influential. If they get an issue started they are likely to have that issue become a national issue too. They have access to those that are not on social media so if they are interested, if they are made to know and understand the dangers and the risks of us not stopping Ebola from being a Nigerian issue then they will likely get to reach their parents, their sisters their cousins their relatives, they travel so social media is going to be very very useful," says Omojuwa.
    The West African Ebola outbreak is the worst in history and the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday (August 8) it represents an international health emergency that will likely continue spreading for months.
    Over 1000 people have died during the outbreak and about 1,779 have been infected.
    The highly contagious virus causes fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.
    The Zaire strain -- the one currently spreading through West Africa -- can kill up to 90 percent of sufferers, although in the latest outbreak the death toll has been around 55 percent.
    It is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids including blood, urine, feces and saliva of an infected person, or with objects such as needles that have been contaminated.
    Also in West Africa, local radio and television stations in Ghana are teaching people about Ebola, bringing the latest news on the spread of the disease to their audiences.
    At Citi 97.3FM, Ebola is now a major part of the daily news bulletin.
    But according to CITI 97.3FM's, Online Manager, Mawuli Tsikata the government should be doing more to help people understand the dangers of Ebola.
    "There was a lot of media attention given to educating the public about HIV/AIDS, you'll see a lot of TV ads, there were billboards in town, there were radio commercials and the rest, but in the case of Ebola you don't see anything; you just depend on what the journalists reports to the public so I don't think the government is doing enough to educate the public about Ebola," said Tsikata.
    Still, the social media, television and radio messaging is reaching some. Residents in the capital , Accra say they are now are more aware of how to prevent infection.
    "I'll make sure I prevent myself enough from as many people as I can and even family members because you may not know the next touch or contact you make with tour next neighbour maybe is the start of your 21 days to your grave and it is not something that I'm going to wish to have as a fate," said Listowel Acquaye, Accra Resident.
    Officials at Ghana's immigration department, however, say they do not have the necessary resources to control or prevent the potential spread of Ebola in Ghana.
    "We have basic gloves and sanitisers and nose masks. We have that just at a few of our entry points. We have 42 entry points most of the entry point do not have it. We also have unapproved routes which our officers patrol to ensure that people don't just crossed in. Those officers don't have basic gloves, sanitisers and the mask if the mask is required. Now, the other issue is we're not experts. We don't even know what we need to protect ourselves they will have to tell us what they think is suitable to help us to protect ourselves so even that we are at their mercy, what we have now, we are not sure whether that is adequate protection for ourselves or not," explained Francis Palmdeti, Head of Public Affairs at the Ghana Immigration Service.
    Ebola has strained health systems of affected states and governments have responded with measures including national emergencies declared in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
    But Ghana's government insists its put the necessary measures in place to stop an outbreak.
    "We have managed about 24 suspected cases and these cases have tested negative, these cases were not managed in the midst of other conditions. We provided some form of isolation whilst we managed this cases within the health sector to make sure that we don't contaminate ourselves we don't transmit, the disease from one person to another and also not to contaminate the environment," said Dr. Badu Sarkodie, Head of the Disease and Surveillance Unit of the Ghana Health Service.
    The bloggers and activists in both Ghana and Nigeria hope their message will reach as many people as possible not just in their countries but across continent, helping to curb the spread of one of the world's most deadly diseases.
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