Why communities must be at the centre of the Coronavirus disease 2019 response: Lessons from Ebola and human immunodeficiency virus in Africa

Why communities must be at the centre of the Coronavirus disease 2019 response: Lessons from Ebola and human immunodeficiency virus in Africa

Oliver Johnson, Tinashe Goronga

As the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread globally, with no effective treatment or vaccine yet available, governments in many countries have put in place social interventions to control the outbreak. The various lockdown measures may have devastating impacts on economies and livelihoods. This approach risks undermining public trust in government responses and therefore undermines efforts to promote behaviour change, which is key to the success of social interventions. Important lessons can be drawn from past Ebola outbreaks and the human immunodeficiency virus pandemic on how communities should be central to COVID-19 responses. Communities are complex and only their members can inform public health experts about their lived realities, the community’s understanding of the outbreak and what will work locally to reduce transmission. The public should be encouraged to take positive actions to ensure their own health and well-being, rather than made to feel powerless. Communities should be supported to develop their own response plans, community leaders should be recognised as vital assets, community representatives should have equal inclusion in strategic meetings and greater empathy should be built into decision-making processes.

2020

coronavirus, Outbreak, covid-19, community, empathy, Community Engagement, Behaviour change, non-pharmaceutical intervention

10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2496

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

AOSIS

Medicine, Public aspects of medicine