The WASH Ebola away campaign has been extended to one of the hardest hit counties in Liberia.

The campaign is an effort by the global community and the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector to combat Ebola at a community based level.  The strategy was launched more than a month ago in response to the outbreak that has taken close to 5000 lives in West Africa thus far.

Liberia has suffered the greatest death toll in the Ebola epidemic, with 2 766 deaths blamed on the outbreak. The WASH Ebola away operation, which was recently extended to the Magribi County of Liberia, was launched in the capital city of Kakata with the distribution of 8 000 hygiene kits.

The hygiene kit contains two jerry cans, 12 pieces of soap, Clorox disinfectant, a rubber bucket with faucet, 3 bottles of water guard, 2 pairs of gloves and a rubber measuring cup. The kit also comes with a set of instructions for the proper use of everything contained therein.

Central to the campaign are four main activities. These include house-to-house hygiene promotion messaging, the distribution of hygiene promotion kits, knowledge, attitudes and practises surveys and volunteer temperature testing.

Similar educational strategies are being put in place in other African countries affected by the disease. The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Programme, together with a consortium of Guinean youth organisations are carrying out sensitisation campaigns in communities around Guinea.

Young volunteers are contributing to the fight against Ebola by distributing soap and chlorine and showing community members how to thoroughly wash their hands. “To fight the spread of Ebola we need to reach out to every single family in order to raise awareness of the danger,” says Hassane Ide Hawidabou, UNV Programme Officer in Guinea.

“Sometimes there are 10 or 20 families in the same home, without any facilities to even wash their hands. One person can fall ill and infect everyone else. That’s why it is crucial to go door to door to raise awareness.”