Monrovia – The Partnership for Research on the Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia (PREVAIL) Social Mobilization and Advocacy team along with its Community Engagement component headed by Amb. Juli Endee of the Liberia Crusaders for Peace (LCP) July 12, 2016 continued their community outreach engagement outside Monrovia with one time heavily hit Ebola community; Red-Hill Field, Virginia residents embracing PREVAIL with an overwhelming turnout.
They crowd which included Ebola survivors, their local leadership, Imams, elders, leaders of women, youth groups as well as community leaders and other residents were seriously urged to reach out to Ebola survivors who are yet to join the study.
Mr. Daniel Bumie advised residents of Red-Hill Field community not to stigmatize Ebola survivors saying this will not only discourage them from enrolling in the study but could alienate them from initiatives aimed at fostering development and peaceful coexistence in the larger society.
He admonished them to organize meetings upon return to their communities to spread the message to ensure that Ebola survivors and others targeted for the study enroll now since one year of the study has elapsed.
Amb. Juli Endee, heads the Community Engagement pillar of PREVAIL.
For his part, PREVAIL lead on Advocacy Mr. Joseph Boye Cooper who enumerated PREVAIL study protocol stressed the need for Ebola survivors and their close contacts who have enrolled in the study to be cognizant of their return medical visit.
Mr. Cooper explained that participants in the study will be closely monitored by PREVAIL trackers to lure them to medical sites where they got enrolled for their regular return medical checkup, adding that this is the only way doctors will determine if the illness is persistent. He said provisions have also been made by PREVAIL to reimburse those going to do their return medical visits.
Also speaking, the head of Ebola survivors in the Red Hill Field community, Mr. Reuben Shellu acknowledged that the area particularly Banjor was hardly hit with Ebola in 2014, noting that this is why the number of Ebola survivors he is supervising in the area is about 75 Ebola.
He urged citizens mainly community dwellers to help them identify their colleagues who are yet to join the medical study.
Mr. Shellu at the same called on the public to stop stigmatizing Ebola survivors stressing that their presence in communities around the country has not only brought economic benefits to ordinary Liberians through PREVAIL project but would also give Liberia the reputation as the country where the vaccine and cure for Ebola was found as the result of the ongoing PREVAIL research.
The US-Liberia Joint Clinical Partnership Research otherwise known as the Partnership for Research on the Ebola Virus Disease in Liberian (PREVAIL) which was launched last year in Monrovia is steadily progressing with the completion of enrollment in the vaccine study (PREVAIL-1).
The second medical study or PREVAIL-2 which entails the admission of the Zemap study drug to Ebola patients was also conducted, thus leading to the launch of the on-going PREVAIL-3 known as the Ebola Natural History Study (ENHS).
