In addition to providing health care for other illnesses and establishing strict infection control procedures and screening areas in order to prevent transmission of the virus in the health care setting, the Church has mobilized a community response and community education in order to engage clergy and local parish groups in efforts to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.
Children whose parents have died; children who have recovered from the virus themselves; children whose families and sense of security have been shattered by the emotional and economic toll of the disease—huge numbers of children in West Africa have been affected by Ebola over the past terrifying months.
Caritas member Cordaid in the Netherlands is sending thousands of kilos of medical supplies and equipment to Ebola-hit West Africa.
In partnership with the Red Cross, Caritas Internationalis and other faith based organisation, the World Health Organisation has updated step-by-step processes for safe and dignified burials in the wake of the Ebola epidemic.
Greeting friends without hugging, waiting for relatives to emerge from quarantine, calling an ambulance that doesn’t arrive—this is what daily life in Sierra Leone looks like as Ebola ravages the West African country.
Caritas and Catholic Church leaders will meet on 4 November in Rome to discuss scaling up their actions in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) has announced a donation of $600,000 to support Ebola care and prevention efforts being carried out in West Africa by Caritas and the IFRC.
Caritas Internationalis health expert Monsignor Robert J. Vitillo is in Monrovia in Liberia, helping the local Church in its Ebola response. He finds a country and a people transformed by the killer virus.
As Ebola spreads through West Africa, even healthy people are suffering from the disease’s economic fallout. Markets are sometimes closed and travel is restricted.
Using the expertise gained through years of tackling HIV, Caritas and Catholic Church staff are combating Ebola as the deadly virus spreads in Africa.