A new approach to fighting Ebola's stigma

In the battle against Ebola in West Africa, containing the disease and seeking a cure is not enough.

Aid donors and implementers are pumping millions of dollars into fighting the outbreak but often overlook one of the epidemic’s most terrible consequences: stigma. Just even being suspected of having contracted the virus can lead families and even whole communities to abandon a single person, and that situation is aggravating the situation for health workers struggling to serve the hardest-to-reach affected areas in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In Sierra Leone, U.S.-based international nonprofit World Hope International is focusing on an innovative approach to addressing stigma in those isolated villages. How? By installing temporary community clinics where patients get their own bed to show them that someone cares for them.