By Muhammad Amaan with agency report
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has urged for coordinated efforts to combat misinformation and strengthen response to Ebola virus disease.
Officials from both agencies made the call at a media engagement workshop in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, Thursday stressing the importance of timely, accurate and verifiable information in supporting community interventions and containing the virus.
The two-day workshop, themed “Public Trust, Transparency, and Collective Action in the Ebola Response,” seeks to strengthen cooperation between public health institutions and media organisations to promote transparent and evidence-based reporting.
Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo, WHO representative to Kenya, said accurate communication was essential to the outbreak response, particularly in interrupting transmission chains and preventing deaths.
“In any outbreak, information is a critical part of the response, and even more so for Ebola. It will help decide how people react and seek care early,” Kimambo said.
She praised Kenyan authorities for promptly notifying international health bodies about the country’s first imported Ebola case on October 6.
Kenya confirmed its second Ebola case on Wednesday. The patient, a relative of the first patient, who died last week, is currently under quarantine, according to the Ministry of Health.
Kimambo warned of the continued risk of regional transmission, emphasising that transparent data sharing was vital for contact tracing and community containment.
She also called for stronger epidemiological surveillance.
Wessam Mankoula, director of the Centre for Public Health Emergencies at Africa CDC, said that accurate and verified information was essential to encouraging communities to adopt protective measures against Ebola.
