Ebola messaging in DR Congo leaves deaf community behind

Efforts to spread Ebola prevention messages across the Democratic Republic of the Congo are failing to reach many people with hearing impairment, leaving a section of the population without the information needed to protect itself during the outbreak.

Since the epidemic was declared in May, the Congolese Red Cross has run a nationwide awareness campaign, putting up posters on city streets and broadcasting health messages on television and radio. For deaf residents, however, those channels offer little.

In the northeastern city of Kisangani, members of the deaf community say the guidance being circulated is not designed for them. Zacharie Dunga, director of the Espoir School for the Deaf, said preventive measures had so far been explained only in superficial terms. He said the school lacked suitable educational materials that would allow students to understand how the disease spreads and to recognise the symptoms of Ebola.

The government has announced targeted intervention plans and pledged to restructure its public health response so that people with disabilities are fully included. Christian Tshilenge, an expert in risk communication and community engagement, said a range of strategies had been introduced for different groups, including people with disabilities. Communication materials have been produced in Braille, he said, and authorities are refining their messaging to work out how sign language interpreters can be used to convey information about Ebola virus disease.

The outbreak is the largest and deadliest in the country's history and the second largest recorded globally, after the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa. Government figures released on Saturday put confirmed infections at 7,541, with 3,639 deaths.