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1 1 (March 27, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govcszt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Researh Sevice Fostering Behavior Change During Disease Outbreaks: Insights from Ebola Response in Africa March 27, 2020 The COVID- 19 pandemic has prompted governments worldwide to seek to change behaviors on a mass scale to stem new infections. (Click here for CRS resources on COVID-19.) The challenges and successes of analogous efforts during the two largest Ebola outbreaks to date-in West Africa (2014-2016), and in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, starting in 2018 and now seemingly waning-may offer lessons for current efforts to contain COVID-19, even though the two viruses differ in significant ways. Dubbed by some a disease of social intimacy, Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected individual. Highly personal interactions, such as caring for infected family members and burying the dead, can spark chains of infections. In both Ebola outbreaks, authorities sought to convince or compel local populations to stop touching while exchanging greetings, avoid gathering in groups, isolate sick family members in specialized care centers, and starkly alter funeral rites. Distrust of health workers, hostility toward government officials, misinformation, and inadequate communication and transparency between responders and affected communities hindered containment efforts during both outbreaks. Local resistance to infection control measures regularly disrupted the response and sometimes turned violent. Behavior changes nevertheless ultimately helped contain Ebola in West Africa and DRC. In Liberia, researchers found that behavioral change resulting from a successful social mobilization campaign may have averted hundreds, if not thousands of deaths in one hard-hit county. As discussed below, successful behavioral change campaigns sought to understand the perceptions and practical needs of affected communities, ensured that communications were accurate and culturally appropriate, and recruited (and in many cases, paid) community members to spearhead local initiatives. In contrast, efforts to use force to effect behavior changes often backfired. Increasing the transparency of health responses-for example, enabling family members to communicate with loved ones undergoing treatment-may also have helped build trust in both West Africa and DRC. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provided hundreds of millions of dollars toward Ebola response efforts in West Africa and DRC, supported peaceful community outreach and health communications campaigns through a number of programs. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11285 CRS NStGHT Prepai-ed for Mernbei-s and Committees 4 o. C- --q .. . . . . . . . ...-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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