Report: Ebola Fueled by Distrust

Report: Ebola Fueled by Distrust

As health officials in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone struggle to eliminate the final cases of Ebola, a new report said some hard lessons have been learned. The group International Alert says a lack of trust between the Liberian people and their government made the outbreak worse

The report’s author, Ashoka Mukpo, said that “many people mistrust official institutions and even feel threatened by them.”

Mukpo, an American, is an Ebola survivor¹ himself. He contracted the disease last year in Monrovia.

“It was a bad couple of weeks. I was very, very sick. I’ve never been that sick in my life and I was quite scared.”

After being treated for five days in Liberia, he was airlifted to a medical facility in the U.S. state of Nebraska.

The International Alert report is entitled Surviving Ebola: Public Perceptions of Governance and the Outbreak Response in Liberia.

“International Alert is an organization that looks at underlying² dynamics³ to maintain peace in fragile states. And one of the things we’re really curious about with the Ebola outbreak in Liberia is how much did people’s perceptions toward government contribute to the outbreak? And what we found when we talked to people is that there were very high levels of mistrust and suspicion towards the government’s motives⁴. And this was really what underpinned⁵ people’s initial refusal to take their warning seriously about how deadly Ebola was,” said Mukpo.

The mistrust, he said, stemmed from history and unfulfilled expectations.

“On one hand, Liberia has quite a history of tension between citizens and government. It had a civil war about 15 years ago. But I think right now what people felt is that there is this tremendous sense of hope. That with President Johnson Sirleaf’s election this would mean development and accountability for corruption⁶ and these kinds of things. And the results actually have been quite disappointing. So, people are savvy⁷ enough to see that what they were hoping would happen hasn’t actually happened.”

Mukpo said Liberians had expected more from the healthcare system when the Ebola outbreak took hold.

“People felt like so many millions of dollars have gone into aid and development over the past 10 years. With the health sector⁸ that completely collapsed⁹ so quickly, there was this perception that, well, there must have been some kind of corruption – that people were taking money and not putting it into places it was supposed to go. So, fair or not, if you look at the record of this government in battling corruption, it’s been so poor that even if there were much bigger issues, you know, with how hard it is to fight an Ebola outbreak people’s perceptions automatically went to corruption.”

He said, however, perceptions were not the same for the international community.

“You know, actually, I was really surprised by this. As someone who lived in Liberia for a few years I really expected that the levels of trust in the international community would have been equally as low as the government. Because, you know, I’ve heard people say, well, these are the folks who support this government [in] the way that they act. But actually the levels of trust that were given to the international community were much higher than the government. In fact, most of the remarks in most of the reports on the international community’s performance during Ebola, and just, in general, its concern for Liberians, was very high,” said Mukpo.

He said that “one of the critical and under reported narratives” of Liberia’s Ebola crisis involved community leaders.

“Initially, there was this really authoritative¹⁰ effort to quarantine communities and force them to do things differently. And it kind of didn’t work. And what really worked is once you sat down with communities – and once the government actually got to community leaders and said, look, what can we do to assist you in fighting this outbreak? What do you need from us and what can you do to help? Then once that kind of collaborative effort started, then that’s really when you started to see cases reduce,” he said.

Mukpo said community trust played a major role in the safe burial of Ebola victims. Touching¹¹ and washing dead bodies helped spread the disease, despite government warnings against the traditional practice.

“Really, when you’ve got community volunteers involved, these are the people whose neighbors doing these secret burials – whose neighbors were hiding the sick. So, it’s much easier to hide somebody from an official who doesn’t live in your neighborhood than from someone who grew up 30 yards away. They come and knock on your door and say, you know, look, I hear your sister is sick. We need to take her to the clinic. And I really think that was the tipping point – that once it was people that folks trusted and that knew had their best interests in mind, that that’s really when people started to be more cooperative and change their behavior,” he said.

The International Alert report said, “Post-Ebola policy-making and aid delivery must take into account the need to repair the bonds between Liberians and their government, in order to strengthen good governance and accountability.” It added that “projects that seek to strengthen health services, promote good governance and rebuild service delivery must incorporate civil society and…communities into planning and decision-making.”

It also recommended that security forces exercise restraint during demonstrations¹² and protests, that anti-corruption agencies be strengthened, and that the Liberian government support a free press and civil society.

1 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

2 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

3 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

4 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

5 underpinned   

v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的过去式和过去分词 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• The report is underpinned by extensive research. 这份报告以广泛的研究为基础。
• The statue of Diana was underpinned with charred piles. Diana雕像是建造在炭化了的木桩上的。 来自辞典例句

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 authoritative   

adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的

参考例句：

• David speaks in an authoritative tone.大卫以命令的口吻说话。
• Her smile was warm but authoritative.她的笑容很和蔼，同时又透着威严。

11 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

12 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。