LCP, PREVAIL launch awareness on Ebola Vaccine Study

The Liberia Crusader for Peace or LCP in collaboration with the Partnership for Research on Ebola Virus in Liberia orPREVAIL has conducted a day’s long awareness and sensitization for community members on the recent Ebola study launched by the Liberia-US joint clinical research partnership at the John F. Kennedy Hospital in Sinkor, Monrovia.

The Launch is aimed at enabling Ebola survivors to enroll in the study and be tested after surviving from the deadly virus in Liberia.

There has been reports of survivors being faced with serious health problems, including blindness, headache, and hearing, among other sicknesses.

The Crusaders for Peace, which is the social mobilization arm of the vaccine study, says the idea of conducting awareness is for community leaders to adequately inform residents especially, those who are Ebola survivors, and close associate to enroll and at the J.F.K. have checkup.

According to the LCP, community leaders should be educated on the vaccine study in order to return to their various communities and spread the message that the exercise is not for everyone, but only Ebola survivors and their close associates.

The one-day forum brought together thousands of residents from various communities, including Front Street and Free Port, among others.

Speaking Wednesday, 22 July 22 at the start of the forum,PREVAIL Assistant Director for Operations, JemmeTegli, said the objective of the awareness is to provide education for residents.

Jemmesaid the recent Ebola outbreak reported in Margibi County poses serious threat to survivors, and those that came in direct contact with them, saying, ”We must voluntarily enroll at the study to have ourselves checkup, because failure on our part there will be a huge effect on us as survivors in the country”.

Meanwhile, the president for the Liberia Ebola Survivor’s Network, Patrick S. Faley, has urged survivors to enroll at the Ebola vaccine study, warning that turning away from the study would only create more pains for survivors, because they will not be able to diagnose the particular sickness bothering them.

He said the study is not meant for additional treatment but for doctors to find out the kind of sickness survivors face in their respective communities, disclosing that there are 1,543 Ebola survivors in the country.
Mr. Faleynoted that many citizens are in the constant habit of obtaining fake documents, claiming that they are Ebola survivors with the sole intention of benefiting alms from donors and other international partners, which is increasing the number of survivors across Liberia. By Lewis S. Teh -Editing by Jonathan Browne