A more apt comparison for the humanitarian community is the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The Ebola virus has a high death rate, and the outbreak in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea resulted in lockdowns similar to those now being seen on a much larger scale. GeoPoll’s experience conducting research during Ebola outbreaks aligns with the shifts from face-to-face to remote research we are seeing now, and the humanitarian community is also looking to its experience with Ebola to guide its response to COVID-19 around the globe.

Prepare for Long-Term Impacts to Food Security and Economies

One of the main areas of comparison between Ebola and coronavirus is the long-term impacts that come with a disease outbreak. During and after the Ebola outbreak, food security and economic impacts were a major concern. GeoPoll’s study with USAID and FHI360 on long-term economic impacts of Ebola found that from June 2014 to June 2015 32% in Liberia and 45% of respondents in Sierra Leone reported that income had dropped in the past year. We also used our remote methodology to study food insecurity and market operability, finding that those in the Ebola epicenters had higher food insecurity than surrounding areas, and that as the disease continued to spread markets were operating at reduced capacity.

As coronavirus spreads to developing regions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, there are already concerns around the food availability, unrest, and economic impacts that will follow. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that a global food crisis is possible unless measures are taken to protect the food supply chain, and it is likely that food prices will also rise. Additionally, lockdowns and social distancing measures are likely to have an outsized impact on countries that rely on informal markets and exports of commodities including oil. In countries that already suffer from food insecurity and unstable economies, coronavirus could have a devastating effect on food security and wellbeing. Humanitarian organizations must act rapidly to prevent widespread food insecurity and other hardships, but they are also dealing with the need to quickly adapt systems to a new environment.

Adapt Aid and Research Systems

To prevent worst-case scenarios from occurring, the humanitarian community must work together to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from overwhelming fragile healthcare systems and economies. However, as we saw the Ebola outbreak, there will be challenges surrounding aid delivery and monitoring of situations on-the-ground. Due to the travel restrictions that have been implemented to stop coronavirus’ spread, aid organizations are already experiencing challenges delivering required goods. Gavi, the vaccine alliance, has stated that 21 countries are experiencing vaccine shortages due to travel disruptions, and farmers in Kenya have been left without supplies to fight the worst locust infestation seen in years.

Additionally, aid organizations and their workers are grappling with the decision to stay and help those who are in need or protect themselves from the virus. The World Health Organization found that during the West African Ebola outbreak, healthcare workers were over 20 times more likely to become infected than the general population, a statistic that we may see repeated with the COVID-19 outbreak.

These factors present a challenge for humanitarian organizations that are looking to monitor indicators such as food security and then deliver the necessary aid to vulnerable populations. During the Ebola outbreak, GeoPoll watched as development organizations shifted their data collection from in-person to remote methodologies. With partners including USAID, Keystone Accountability, and FEWS Net, we completed over 200,000 surveys of those living in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea that enabled development organizations to better respond to the disease outbreak.

While it is impossible to conduct business as usual during a global pandemic, the Ebola response taught us that by quickly adapting, it is possible to gather the vital information needed to assist the global response. The effects of coronavirus will be felt for years to come, but by looking to lessons learned during previous disease outbreaks and quickly scaling to meet anticipated needs, organizations like ours can help those most in need.

To learn about GeoPoll’s efforts to aid the international response to coronavirus and view our free reports on the topic, visit our coronavirus resources page.

The post How to Apply Lessons Learned from the Ebola Response to COVID-19 appeared first on GeoPoll.

The study was conducted from the 20^th – 26^th of August 2019 in Swahili and French, with respondents randomly selected from GeoPoll’s database of mobile subscribers in North Kivu. Out of 483 respondents, 313 were from Goma, with the remainder from other areas in North Kivu. The gender split was 58% male to 42% female, and the age breakdown was 45% 15-24, 43% 25-34, and 14% aged 35 and older. GeoPoll used our previous experience conducting surveys around Ebola and other disease outbreak to develop the questionnaire, the results of which can be seen below. Data provides a snapshot view of the on-the-ground situation and demonstrates the importance of further research in the region.

Awareness of Ebola in the DRC

Out of all respondents, 40% stated that they know of people who have contracted Ebola in the past month, with the youngest age group – ages 15-24 – being the least likely to know someone who has contracted Ebola, at 33%. The vast majority of respondents report that they are aware of the symptoms of Ebola, with females being less likely to know the symptoms; 91% of males and 86% of females reported that they know the symptoms.

A slightly smaller percentage were aware of the recent spread of Ebola in their own area, though still a strong majority of 79% reported that they knew of the outbreak. We do find some differences in the results by education level: those who had completed post-secondary school had higher levels of awareness of the outbreak, at 83% reporting awareness of Ebola, compared to 74% of those who had completed secondary school or lower levels of education.

Radio is shown to be the predominant source of information on Ebola, with 53% of respondents listing radio as their primary news/information source on Ebola, followed by social media at 17% and friends or family at 10%. WhatsApp and Facebook were listed as the most popular social media sources of information. 90% of respondents report that they have communicated with friends about Ebola and its risk.

Health Actions and Perceptions of the Ebola Response 

Aid organizations often focus on both treatment of Ebola and the distribution of information about the ways to prevent the spread of Ebola, and our survey asked several questions around the perception of the response to Ebola as well as perceived risk to disease exposure. In terms of aid presence, we found that 62% thought that healthcare or aid organizations had been more present in their area in the past two weeks. High levels reported fears about visiting health facilities for non-Ebola related illnesses, with 74% stating that people are scared to visit facilities for other health concerns. Additionally, public places are seen as the highest risk areas for exposure to Ebola, with 41% stating public transport poses the biggest risk to exposure and 39% stating general public places are the biggest risk. 86% report that they know how to prevent themselves from contracting Ebola, with no significant difference between genders.

We also examined perceptions of the Ebola response, finding relatively high levels of support for the handling of the outbreak by both the government and hospitals. In terms of how the hospitals are handling the current outbreak, 65% report the hospital response is ‘average’ or higher, while 69% reported the same regarding the government. Only 15% and 14% reported that the hospitals and government respectively are doing an ‘excellent’ job at handling the outbreak, indicating there are still areas for improvement. We also found differing levels of confidence in the government’s ability to handle a larger outbreak: If there was a wider outbreak, 37% say they are ‘not confident’ in their government’s ability to handle it, while 35% say they are ‘very confident’. We did not observe differences between age and gender for the level of confidence in the government.

Ebola in Goma

Much of the focus around Ebola in DRC recently has been centered on Goma, a border city with Rwanda, a transport hub for the region, and the capital of North Kivu. Due to concern around Ebola’s spread in this strategic location, we targeted this survey to ensure a high number of responses from Goma and asked several questions to the 313 respondents from the city.

Regarding treatment plans, we find that a high majority in Goma, 90%, would go to a health facility or hospital if they thought they had Ebola, rather than going to a private doctor or using traditional medicine. Further supporting the perceived value of hospitals to treat Ebola, we find that 93% say if someone in their household had symptoms they would go to a health facility quickly rather than treating them at home. Despite this, when asked specifically about Ebola Treatment Units, units specifically designed to treat and prevent the spread of Ebola, we found less knowledge of their uses. Just over half of Goma respondents said they were familiar with what happens at an ETU.

During high-profile disease outbreaks such as Ebola in DRC, there can be a level of concern over notifying officials of symptoms due to perceived stigma, however, we find that 84% in Goma would tell official Ebola response workers if they became infected with the disease. Despite high levels of worry over contracting Ebola, with 46% of respondents from Goma stating they are ‘very worried’ about becoming infected, we find a split response on people avoiding public spaces due to the disease: 48% have avoided areas like markets and stadiums, and 52% say they have not avoided public spaces.

Conducting Surveys in the Democratic Republic of Congo

To learn more about how GeoPoll’s mobile-based surveys and communications can be used to aid the Ebola response effort in DRC please contact us.

The post Ebola in DRC: SMS Survey Results appeared first on GeoPoll.

At GeoPoll, we’re working with partners worldwide to monitor the spread of the disease and understand the long-term effects of Ebola. Our ongoing work with the World Food Programme has already provided valuable data on food security in Sierra Leone, and the WFP has also just released findings from our surveys in Liberia, and Guinea.  All 3 countries are currently affected by food insecurity, and the regions where Ebola is most prevalent have even more fragile food security than surrounding areas.  

This survey only included these two simple questions, but over the next months GeoPoll will work with partners to collect valuable information on knowledge of Ebola spread, symptoms, and more. As a note, GeoPoll always takes very seriously the privacy of respondents, and we have put extra precautions in place when asking about sensitive health issues such as Ebola. All responses are completely anonymous, and when asking questions about the disease we are including a message informing the participants that we are asking about Ebola, and that their responses are confidential. We are also including the phone number for the national Ebola hotline for users to call with health concerns, displayed at both the beginning and end of surveys. 

For more data from GeoPoll’s surveys, sign up for our blog alerts at the top of this page, and click below to contact us about running your own survey with GeoPoll. 

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