Religious body uses animation to battle Ebola

The United Methodist Communications in the US, Chocolate Moose Media and iHeed have collaborated to create an animation for West Africa that dispels myths about how Ebola is spread and promotes prevention.

A statement distributed by African Press Organisation on behalf of the United Methodist Communications and copied to Ghana News Agency said the video could be downloaded freeathttp://www.ebolavideo.org., http://www.ebolavideo.org and http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/141013umc.jp,

“Our goal is to provide education that leads to better understanding to prevent infections,” Reverend Larry Hollon, Chief Executive of United Methodist Communications said.

“Ebola gains foothold in poor communities where mistrust, resistance to proper care and lack of understanding of the virus and is widespread. The church’s advantage lies in its network of trusted leaders who live in the affected regions,” it said.

The United Methodist Communications, global communications agency of The United Methodist Church, is using several approaches, including providing text messages to clergy in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The agency provides partial funding for Chocolate Moose Media to create the video.

"I have created what I hope will be a compelling video to prevent the spread of Ebola,” Chocolate Moose Media Founder and award-winning Director Firdaus Kharas said.

“My approach is to combine animation with non-coercive persuasion by having Africans speak to their own broader family.”

Accessed through download for local playback, all partners would distribute the video to reach as many as possible. Distribution channels include international organisations, non-governmental organisations, civil society and churches and through social media using #Ebola video.

"Through a combination of weak health infrastructure, inconsistent levels of education, and unpreparedness, this epidemic has become a global threat,” Dr Kunal D. Patel, Medical Director of iHeed, a mobile-health-education innovator said.

“Digital media can fill the gaps. In combination with technologies such as mobile phones, cinemas, projectors and tablets, animated information can help."

The United Methodist Church is responding in a number of other ways in a joint effort by the United Methodist Committee on Relief, West African United Methodist church leaders and regional health boards, denominational health facilities, and others.

According to the World Health Organisation, 7,470 cases of Ebola had been reported as of October 3 with 3,431 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Ebola is transmitted to humans from wild animals and spreads through person-to-person transmission. Contact with the body of a deceased person could also play a role in transmission.