Senegal boosts Ebola awareness through SMS campaign

3 November 2014 -- Senegal’s recent stamping out of Ebola was achieved not only through its rapid infectious disease control work, but also by using a novel SMS-driven platform. The country’s well-coordinated response stopped the virus dead in its tracks. As part of a massive public awareness effort, Senegal’s Ministry of Health sent 4 million SMS messages to the general public warning of the dangers of Ebola and how to prevent it.

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31 October 2014 - WHO has conducted a formal review of personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines for healthcare workers and is updating its guidelines in the context of the current Ebola outbreak. The updated guidelines aim to clarify and standardize safe and effective PPE options to protect health care workers and patients, as well as provide information for obtaining PPE during the outbreak.

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29 October 2014 -- As the Ebola outbreak grows, a small but significant group of people is also growing - the Ebola survivors. The survivors have not found life easy on the other side of the Ebola ward. They have a range of symptoms - visual problems, body aches, such as joint, muscle and chest pain. It has become evident that physical after-effects of the disease are among the most pressing problems Ebola survivors face.

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WHO has issued a roadmap to guide and coordinate the international response to the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in west Africa. The roadmap aims to stop ongoing Ebola transmission worldwide within 6-9 months while rapidly managing the consequences of any further international spread. It also recognises the need to address, in parallel, the outbreak’s broader socioeconomic impact.

• Ebola response roadmap
• Situation reports
• WHO issues roadmap for scaled-up response to the Ebola outbreak - announcement