USAID Social Behaviour Change Activity (SBCA) ● September 2022 – February 2023
What was the issue?
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal, illness originally transmitted to humans from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates) and then transmitted from human to human through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of an infected person.
Uganda has had four EVD outbreaks: in 2000, 2011, and two in 2012 prior to the last one in 2022. The Ministry of Health (MOH) declared the first Ebola-positive case on 20th September 2022.

While the epicenter of the outbreak was in two districts, the disease quickly spread to seven others. USAID SBCA provided support to the MOH to conduct Risk Communication Community activities to contain the outbreak. The main objective was to increase knowledge and awareness of emerging rumours, myths, and misconceptions, increase risk perception and trigger the public’s response to prevention and control measures for EVD.

What did S4P Group do?

We were contracted to support USAID SBCA to design and rollout a sensitisation campaign in the nine districts that were affected by the EVD outbreak: Bunyangabu, Jinja, Kagadi, Kampala, Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Masaka, Mubende, and Wakiso. One of the methods that the team used to spread the EVD prevention message was Community Activations with three complementary approaches.

An African horn trumpet is used to convey messages and to summon people for a common cause. S4P Group organised a group of horn blowers dressed in traditional garb and a sash across their chests reading “Together we can beat Ebola.” They blew their horns every morning and evening, calling on everyone to come together and fight the common enemy.
The Horn of Togetherness activation was strategically placed at round-abouts with high traffic around Kampala and Wakiso Districts. A total of 12 activations was done reaching an estimated 250,000 people in the two districts.

The second Community Activation was that of Mobilisation Vans mounted with a public address system place at places with a lot of people. The sessions were interactive and the public was encouraged to ask questions which were duly answered by the influencer on board. This provided opportunity for rumours to be dispelled and myths or misconceptions to be corrected.

The third Activation was groups of Boda Boda riders deployed to create a buzz and the draw the attention of the public. They were given IEC materials and paper flags to pin onto their bikes. They were flagged off at a busy area by an influential person in the administrative area. These boda boda activations received a lot of media visibility and got the public talking about EVD.

How did the S4P Group approach provide value?
We always use a multipronged approach to behaviour change messaging that takes into context the unique circumstances of each area, population or audience group that is being targeted.

In this campaign, the Community Activations created a buzz and forced the hitherto sceptic public to pay attention and get updated, accurate information on Ebola. The methods were diverse but complementary, with some drawing attention to the issue, and others creating opportunities to correct wrong assumptions about the disease and how it is spread.

What is the impact?

Together all the approaches used to sensitise the public about Ebola had an impact on containing the outbreak. Prior to this, the risk perception for EVD had been very low. Many people did not believe they were at risk of catching Ebola. The myths and misconceptions that had spread among the populace had watered down the true EVD prevention message. However, the coordinators and resource persons deployed by S4P Group were equipped with talking points which they used to dispel these myths and misconceptions.

These approaches contributed to the overall national response that saw Uganda declared Ebola-free on 11th January 2023.