Carleton students were encouraged to think critically about the recent Ebola outbreak at a Sept. 9 roundtable organized by Carleton’s Institute of African Studies.
The discussion focused on perceptions and responses to the pandemic. It featured Valerie Percival, assistant professor with the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs; director of the School of Journalism and Communication Joshua Greenberg; and Paul Mkandawire, assistant professor with the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies.
According to recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been over 3,000 deaths and over 6,500 cases of Ebola since the outbreak began in December 2013. This is the largest outbreak of the virus since it first appeared in 1976.
The speakers focused on the need to understand and work with local communities to eradicate the virus. They also emphasized a misunderstanding of the threat posed by Ebola on this side of the Atlantic.
Percival explained that with proper public health measures, the impact of Ebola could be reduced and eradicated. She said there should be “no reason why you can’t control this outbreak.”
Response to Ebola in West Africa has been hindered by the reliance on traditional medicine, partly because of weak health systems, and the widespread distrust of authority in the region, according to Percival.
She also blames the WHO’s slow response, saying there has been “complacency from the public health community.”
Mkandawire emphasized the need for engagement with communities in West Africa, and called for an “interdisciplinary approach to deal with these epidemics.”
“Responses need to be inspired by local knowledge of the environment,” he said.
He warned failing to combine scientific understanding with local understanding could cause the public mistrust of authority to worsen.
Although the Ebola outbreak is a severe issue in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, Greenberg explained that the risk to Canadians is low. A recent survey he and other Carleton researchers conducted found that 45 per cent of Ontarians were concerned about the virus reaching Canada.
Greenberg said he worries this fear could cause unnecessary stigmatization of African-Canadian communities.
“The smearing of certain groups is an unfortunately common occurrence in high-perception events,” he said.
Blair Rutherford, the director of the Institute of African Studies, said the roundtable was organized to provide a more informed account of the outbreak as universities grapple with how students at home and overseas may be affected.
The roundtable was the first event in a series called Umeme, which is the Swahili word for “lightning.”
The name reflects the way that these issues “flash across the sky like a lightning bolt,” said Rutherford.
Future roundtables in the series may include discussions of Boko Haram and tensions in Somalia.
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