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Ebola resources

UNIT 2: Ebola - seen and unseen, heard and unheard

‘Ebola virus got ahead of us.’

Dr Chan, UN, September 2014.

Task 1

1. Look at the cartoon below, what do you think the cartoonist is saying about the Global EbolaCrisis?

Source: http://mic.com/articles/100618/one-powerful-illustration-shows-exactly-what-s-wrong-with-media-coverage-of-ebola

2. Do you think it is acceptable to create a cartoon like this? Give reasons for your answer andshare your views with others.

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Task 2

1. Study the information posters and billboard about Ebola shown below:

This is from the United States of America:

Source: http://blog.education.nationalgeographic.com/2014/09/22/all-about-ebola/

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This is from West Africa:

Source: http://blog.education.nationalgeographic.com/2014/09/22/all-about-ebola/

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This is from West Africa too:

Source: http://elitedaily.com/news/world/us-ebola-patient-prosecuted-return-liberia/783729/

1. Compare and contrast the three posters in a table, to show how they are the same and howthey differ.

2. In what ways are the posters different to suit the audience and its needs in their respectivecountries? How can you explain these differences?

3. Which of the three posters do you think is best? [Look at the quality of the informationprovided, impact on the reader and ease of understanding] Justify your choice.

4. Can you improve the posters in any way?

5. How might rural West Africans be disadvantaged by this type of poster campaign?

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Task 3

A. ** Read the Independent newspaper article about David Beckham below:

David Beckham to tackle Ebola: Unicef ambassador explains how cleanliness iscrucial in stopping spread of deadly virus

David Beckham will be the face of a new Unicef campaign highlighting ways people can preventthe spread of Ebola from claiming more lives.

As the death toll reaches over 4000, the footballer, 39, is set to appear in a video explaining theimportance of cleanliness in controlling the epidemic in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Sierra Leone Football Association president, Isha Johansen, told the Sun on Sunday: “To haveDavid Beckham involved in this campaign is massive for us and we are so grateful to him.

“In Sierra Leone, football is a religion. All men, women and children follow a player or a teamfrom the Premier League but David Beckham is the favourite”.

Teachers may wish to refer to the following articles for background reading:

How Twitter helped Nigeria to contain Ebola -http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/how-twitter-helped-nigeria-to-contain-ebola--xybBBRM_Ie

Maps made from mobile phone records could help plan for the next tsunami orEbola outbreak -http://theconversation.com/maps-made-from-mobile-phone-records-could-help-plan-for-the-next-tsunami-or-ebola-outbreak-33706?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+4+November+2014+-+2052&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+4+November+2014+-+2052+CID_2e30519fc07703a6814f6bcdfac486ed&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Maps%20made%20from%20mobile%20phone%20records%20could%20help%20plan%20for%20the%20next%20tsunami%20or%20Ebola%20outbreak

Lineup announced for this year’s Band Aid single - http://www.itv.com/news/story/2014-11-10/lineup-announced-for-this-years-band-aid-single/

How to protect yourself from Ebola, in song -http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/how-to-protect-yourself-from-ebola-in-song/?_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

DEC Ebola crisis appeal - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pljk5

DEC appeal seeks to add to 2.5m people who have received aid in Ebola crisis -http://www.charitytimes.com/ct/dec-ebola-appeal-launched.php

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“His sympathetic message will be broadcast across the country and the whole of West Africa,and it will raise the importance of how to fight this disease by simple things like goodcleanliness.

“Our country and the whole of West Africa is facing a terrible plight and the numbers who aredying are incredible.

“It’s been going on here for months now and the fact that it has reached Europe has madepeople notice there as well.”

Beckham visited Makeni in Sierra Leone in 2008. The town has been one of the worst affected byEbola, which has claimed the lives of many children there.

His involvement comes as governing bodies in Morocco shared concerns about hosting theAfrican Nations Cup tournament there next year because of the potential threat of Ebola.

The Confederation of African Football responded to Morocco’s concerns, stating that noimmediate change would be made to the fixtures in January and February 2015.

The body added that it had taken the “health risks posed by the Ebola virus” into account andwould further discuss the matter at the end of October.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/david-beckham-to-tackle-ebola-unicef-ambassador-explains-how-cleanliness-is-crucial-in-stopping-spread-of-deadly-virus-9789532.html

1. Do you think David Beckham is a good choice to be the Unicef Ambassador speaking out ontackling Ebola?

2. What makes him good for this job? What disadvantages are there in choosing him?

3. Suggest three other people with sufficient credibility that could raise awareness/money forthe Ebola crisis. Who would listen to them?

B. Your group has been tasked with creating a fund/awareness raising campaign for the peoples ofWestern Africa caught up in the Ebola crisis.

1. Can you think of other ways of putting the Ebola campaign messages across? [Think aboutother forms of media, local, national and global scales, cost implications and time frames]Rank them in order of feasibility.

2. Present your ideas on a concept poster; include all the areas listed above and any othersthat your group thinks are important. Make your presentation using your concept posterand listen to the other presentations.

3. What are the best ideas to come out of the presentations?

4. Summarise the main features of the agreed ‘best Ebola campaign strategy’.

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Task 4

1. Read the following newspaper headlines:

From the Nigerian press:

How Did Nigeria Quash Its Ebola Outbreak So Quickly?

Ebola crisis: Nigeria declared free of virus

Valuable Ebola Lessons the US Can Learn From Nigeria

From the U.S. press:

Obama defends U.S. Ebola guidelines

U.S. faces difficult challenge containing Ebola in America's largest city

Ebola Worries Rise, But Most Are ‘Fairly’ Confident in Government. Hospitals to Deal WithDisease

Samantha Power Praises Cuba’s Ebola Response, Defends U.S. Quarantine Guidelines

2. Research the ways the governments of Nigeria and the USA responded when Ebola wasfound in their country.

3. How and why was their approach so different?

Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders feature a number of stories about Ebola

Ebola: MSF has virus under control in northern DRC: http://bit.ly/1p2hfAt Ebola: First trials for new treatments to start at MSF sites: http://bit.ly/1qxOMTY Ebola: The boy who drew his way to recovery: http://bit.ly/1AmonvE Ebola: A day distributing protection kits in Monrovia, Liberia: http://bit.ly/1p2gGXn

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1. Read the Guardian article below about the 7268th meeting of the UN Security Council held inSeptember 2014.

Ebola outbreak a threat to world peace, says UN security councilGroup unanimously backs emergency resolution as UN secretary general calls for $1bn aid effortto tackle virus

The UN security council has called the Ebola outbreak "a threat to international peace andsecurity" and urged the world to provide health experts, field hospitals and medical supplies.

A resolution adopted unanimously by the UN's most powerful body at an emergency meetingwith an unprecedented 130 countries as co-sponsors reflected the rising global concern at theoutbreak.

It was only the second time that the security council has addressed a public health emergency,the first being the HIV/Aids pandemic.

The UN health chief, Dr Margaret Chan, said the "deadly and dreaded Ebola virus got ahead ofus" and it was time to urgently catch up.

"This is likely the greatest peacetime challenge that the United Nations and its agencies haveever faced," she said.

Teachers may find this background briefing useful:

The UN Security Council

In brief

The council has 15 members: five permanent members with veto power and ten non-

permanent members, elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term.

Meetings are called at any given time when the need arises.

Under the Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of

international world peace and security. It has 15 Members, and each Member has one

vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council

decisions.

The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace

or an act of aggression in the world. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by

peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some

cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of

force to maintain or restore international peace and security

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The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said the number of Ebola cases was doubling everythree weeks. He called for a 20-fold increase in aid totalling almost $1bn (£600m) to tackle thecrisis over the next six months.

Ban said the largest outbreak of Ebola in history "demands the attention of the world" and"unprecedented" action.

The UN is leading the global response to contain and eradicate Ebola and Ban announced that hewas establishing a UN emergency mission to tackle the growing challenge.

He thanked the US president, Barack Obama, for sending 3,000 troops to provide expertise inlogistics, training and engineering. He also credited about 20 other countries which haveresponded with contributions and urged all nations coming to the UN general assemblyministerial meeting next week to follow suit.

After the emergency UN meeting, Dr Joanne Liu, the international president of Médecins SansFrontières, said: "MSF welcomes the emergency Ebola meeting of the UN security council.

"We call on member states and others to follow the lead of countries who have committed tojoin the fight against Ebola. We need concrete action on the ground now.

"Speed is of the essence. Although dangerously late, the pledges such as those of the US and UKare ambitious, but they must be implemented now. We do not have months or even weeks towait. Thousands of lives are at stake. Other countries must commit to deploying assets and staffto the affected region as soon as possible.

"We are in uncharted waters. It is impossible to predict if the current pledges are enoughbecause we do not know how the situation will degenerate in the coming weeks.

"There is no response too large. Flexibility to adapt to this unpredictable situation is paramount.Field hospitals, trained staff and coordination are desperately needed bring Ebola under control.Today."

The security council encouraged the governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea toaccelerate the rapid diagnosis and isolation of suspected Ebola cases and launch publiceducation campaigns about the virus. It also encouraged the three governments "to continueefforts to resolve and mitigate the wider political, security and humanitarian dimensions of theEbola outbreak".

The resolution addresses the "detrimental effect" of the isolation of the affected countries,especially on their economies. It calls for the lifting of travel and border restrictions, aresumption of shipping and air service to the affected countries and increased efforts to deliverhealth workers and supplies.

Jackson Niamah, a team leader for MSF at a treatment centre in the Liberian capital, Monrovia,told the council by videoconference that there were not enough centres and beds. People "aresitting at the gates of our centres, literally begging for their lives" and "are dying at our frontdoor", he said.

"They rightly feel alone, neglected, denied left to die a horrible, undignified death," Naimah said.

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"We are failing the sick because there is not enough help on the ground. If the internationalcommunity does not stand up, we will be wiped out."

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/18/ebola-outbreak-un-security-council-resolution

2. In the article the UN Security Council considers Ebola to be ‘A threat to international peaceand security’. What three things did they ask from the World Community?

3. It was only the second time that the UN Security Council has addressed a public healthemergency. What was the other meeting about?

4. What is a Pandemic?

Background reading for teachers

http://www.worldaidsday.org/

Teachers should use a map, perhaps from the selection below, to help illustrate this concept.

Geographic distribution of Ebola virus disease outbreaks in humans and animalshttp://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/global_ebolaoutbreakrisk_20140818-1.png?ua=1

Infographic: Just how deadly is Ebola?http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2014/08/infographic-deadly-ebola-epidemic-west-africa-20148248162913356.html

Eliminating Malaria: How close can we get? http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/nov/03/eliminating-malaria-bill-gates-vaccines

How the Speed of Response Defined the Ebola Crisishttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/11/04/health/visuals-ebola-model.html?smid=tw-nytimes

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B. Mr. Jackson K.P.Niamah who works for MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders)

at a treatment centre in Liberia was invited to address the 7268th meeting of the UN Security

Council.

1. Why was Mr Niamah invited to address this meeting?

2. What did he say the UN Security Council should do to help fight Ebola?

3. What did he predict would happen if the UN Security Council would not help Ebola victims?

U.N Security Council Current Members

Permanent and non-permanent members

The Council is composed of 15 Members:

five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and theUnited States

and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly (withend of term date):

o Argentina (2014)

o Australia (2014)

o Chad (2015)

o Chile (2015)

o Jordan (2015)

o Lithuania (2015)

o Luxembourg (2014)

o Nigeria (2015)

o Republic of Korea (2014)

o Rwanda (2014)

Teachers should show this clip from UNTV of Mr Niamah addressing the UN Security Council:

http://webtv.un.org/watch/jackson-k-p-niamah-msf-on-ebola-security-council-7268th-meeting/3793426304001

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4. Your group will be given one of these countries to represent. Research your country

and decide how you will respond [positively and negatively] to Mr Niamah’s TV

testimony.

5. Explain your responses, with reasons, to the other member countries and to debate

with them about what the Security Council should agree to do about the Ebola Crisis.

Task 5

1. Study the cartoon below:

2. What are the cartoons messages about Ebola and other diseases like Malaria andTuberculosis?

3. What is the cartoon saying about Ebola’s demographic?

4. Do you think this is a good cartoon or not? (Is it in good taste? Respectful? Informative?Thought provoking? Childish? Helpful?) Give reasons for your answer.

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Task 6

1. Study the Wordle below on Ebola made by French school students.

2. Create your own Wordle on Ebola as the final task of your unit. It could be createdindividually or in groups or as a class.

Source: www.henry4schools.fr

1. Which words feature most in your Wordle and why?