Catholic Relief Services: Responding to Ebola outbreak and fighting the fear surrounding it

(Vatican Radio) The deadly Ebola virus is continuing to claim lives in West Africa in one of the most challenging outbreaks of the disease ever seen. Over 120 people have died so far and UN health officials say the outbreak could go on for several months.

Meredith Stakem is an adviser on health issues for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in West Africa and she spoke to Susy Hodges about the challenges posed by this outbreak. These include trying to combat the fear and rumours and occasionally violent acts that have sprung up around this epidemic.

Listen to the full interview with Meredith Stakem of CRS:

Stakem says CRS is very “concerned” over the current epidemic which she describes as “unprecedented” in its scope. Like many other NGO’s working in the area, she says CRS is responding to the outbreak by “working very closely” with local government health officials to get out more information through radio and Church networks to the public about the virus, how it is spread and how to prevent transmission.

Unfortunately because Ebola is so deadly (with up to 90 percent of patients dying from the disease) and not that much is known about it, Stakem says there is a huge fear among the local population. She describes how “this natural fear of the unknown” is causing some people to “retaliate” against doctors or “blame victims” such as a recent incident where an angry crowd attacked a treatment centre in Guinea, accusing the medical charity “Doctors Without Borders” of bringing the Ebola virus to the country.

Like experts from the World Health Organisation, Stakem fears that the present outbreak could continue to spread for several months.