The public education campaign emphasizes the vital role of healthcare workers and features new Ebola prevention communications for West Africa, including the ‘We’ve Got Your Back’ public service advertisement or announcement (PSA). Over the last six months, hundreds of health workers in West Africa have been killed by the Ebola virus disease, and this prompted Elba to pitch in.
“For me the battle against Ebola is a personal one,” Elba said. “To see those amazing countries in West Africa where my father grew up and my parents married being ravaged by this disease is painful and horrific,” said Elba, the creative force behind the development of the campaign public service announcements.
“Imagine having to sit down and tell your family you were going to fight this disease. That conversation is happening across West Africa and around the world every day. I am in awe of the bravery of these health workers, who put their lives at risk day in and out to stop the spread of this terrible disease. My hope is that, in some small way, through the development of these PSAs and the creation of the Africa United campaign, we can ensure that these workers get the support they need and that health messages are delivered to people on the ground to help them in their fight. #wevegotyourback. We will support you.”
In November, the BBC reported that players, including Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona’s Neymar Jr., Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm, and Gareth Bale all appeared in a new Ebola awareness campaign run by FIFA.
According to the BBC, the players from some of Europe's biggest clubs came together for the "11 Against Ebola" video, which promotes health messages selected with the help of doctors and health experts in West Africa, the BBC said.
The World Bank was supportive of the footballers Ebola messages. Using the slogan “Together, we can beat Ebola” and the hashtag #wecanbeatebola, players share 11 simple messages selected with the help of the WHO, among the many organizations tackling the outbreak in West Africa. But it’s not just the disease that needed tackling.
“Ebola Attitudes”
Sky News beamed out to the world in August that a Sierra Leonean cyclist was placed in isolation in Glasgow for four days during the Commonwealth Games.
"Ebola Terror at Commonwealth Games," hollered one newspaper, desperately trying to describe the endurance cyclist’s ordeal and just how “petrified” Moses Sesay was as he “told of his horror at being quarantined and tested (and retested) by doctors dressed in space suits. Sesay was admitted to a Glasgow hospital after falling ill, a day after the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.