Members of the Ebola Gbalo Research Group Prof Susannah Mayhew and Esther Mokuwa reported on their findings and engaged senior WHO and IFRC health and emergency response leaders on lessons to be learnt for the DRC outbreak at an event hosted by Dr Michaela Told at the Graduate Institute Geneva / Global Health Centre on 13 May 2019.
The Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa in 2014 shook the world and dramatically highlighted the need for new approaches in responses to disease outbreaks, including strengthening resilient health systems. While much has been learnt from the 2014 crisis, the current outbreak in DRC has underlined again the challenges of operating in a fragile context.
The event discussed the lessons learnt from the West Africa outbreak and their relevance for the current crisis in DRC. It was be informed by findings of a three-year ethnographic study entitled “Ebola Gbalo” undertaken by the LSHTM and Njala University and aimed to define pathways on how we can better support communities in responding to an Ebola outbreak in a challenged context & the role of policy-making in this.
Responding to Ebola 