GENEVA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Red Cross volunteers may have prevented more than 10,000 Ebola cases during the 2013-2016 West Africa outbreak, according to a study published on Thursday.
Red Cross teams in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea took on the complex task of burying Ebola victims, a crucial yet dangerous task given how infectious dead bodies were. Their work was further complicated by deeply valued traditional burial practices of washing and touching the dead, which contributed in the early stages of the outbreak to increased infection rates.
The study, published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, uses statistical modeling to measure the impact of Red Cross safe and dignified burial (SDB) teams during the Ebola outbreak.
It found that the practice of safe and dignified burials potentially averted as many as 10,450 Ebola cases, decreasing the scale of the outbreak by over 36.5 percent.
The Red Cross teams, composed of around 1,500 local trained volunteers, managed over 47,000 safe burials, accounting for over 50 percent of all burials conducted during the outbreak.
"This study reveals the vital role of communities and community-based organizations in the Ebola response," said Dr. Julie Hall, Chief of Staff and Special Advisor on Health at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
"International partners need to better harness and invest in local capacities, building on homegrown knowledge and skills, that will help communities respond, protect themselves and put an end to future health crises," said IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy.
