Using Community Based Surveillance to improve early detection of Ebola outbreak in western Uganda

There is no one who understands a community better than its own members. Community challenges are best known to its people and solutions are always with the same people. Uganda Red Cross employs the ‘community based volunteer approach’ which allows volunteers picked and trained from the communities to deal with their own people and present their community’s needs. With support from USAID Uganda through the International Federation of the Red Cross, Uganda Red Cross is implementing a community based preparedness program that focuses on epidemics and pandemics dubbed #CP3 Project The introduce Community is trained to be able to detect potential disease outbreaks and also respond through reporting the signs and eventually participate in the response to save lives. Today, Uganda is one of the countries at risk for Ebola following the confirmed outbreak in neighboring DR-Congo.As the Ebola threat continues to loom around the Uganda-Congoboarder, Uganda Red Cross has trained over 300 Volunteers in communities closes to DR-Congo in districts like Bundibugyo, Kasese, Ntoroko, Bunyangabu, Kisoro, Kabale, Kanungu among others to carry out surveillance and risk communication activities, including screening for all people entering the country. In some busy communities, a special data collection App called “Kobo-Collect” was introduced and about 50 Volunteers have been trained to use it.