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World News

Christian and non-Christian faith leaders helped stop Ebola, says CAFOD

by Hannah Tooley

CAFOD says the help of 1,884 different faith leaders meant that people listened to advice on how to avoid contracting the Ebola virus - such as hand washing with chlorinated water or avoiding the body of a deceased loved one.

Nana Anto-Awuakye from CAFOD has recently been back to Sierra Leone and told Premier one of the main problems during the heart of the crisis was that people's relatives were killed so quickly there was no chance to say goodbye.

Witnessing this grief they applied safe and dignified burials so that Christians and Muslims could pray and say goodbye
properly.

She told Premier: "We followed all the guidelines that were laid out by WHO (the World Health Organisation) with regard to burying somebody who had died of Ebola, and dignified in that we worked with our church partners and our other faith partners to ensure that families had an opportunity to say goodbye to their loved ones, without endangering themselves and becoming infected."

"They're days away from being declared Ebola free - and so they're hoping that WHO will be able to declare Sierra Leone Ebola-free by about 7th November."

It is thought that the Ebola outbreak has claimed over 11,000 lives and infected more than 28,000 people across West Africa.

In Sierra Leone alone there have been nearly 13,500 cases and almost 4,000 deaths.

CAFOD continues to work in the region.

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