Monrovia, 20 March 2015 - To curb reemergence of unsafe burial practices, the Mandingo Community, (one of the tribes in Liberia) through its leaders has held community consultation dialogue to seek consensus on accommodating community needs while reducing risk of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) transmission. One solution sought was the training of select members of the community to conduct safe burials. The burial team would comprise of six community volunteers, a mix of women and men, and an Imam (a worship leader of the mosque).

Through the Montserrado Sub-region, 4 Response Team experts from the Global communities and WHO were approached to formally train safe burial teams among the community. On 18th March 2015, a first group of seven members of the Mandingo community were trained on safe body management procedures including community engagement, donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE), swab collection, spraying, use of body bags, and safe procedures of handling waste. Similar training may be provided to other communities throughout the country to address the Muslim community needs.

The targeted communities are aware that contact with the bodies and fluids of persons who have died of Ebola has been a common route of Ebola transmission. Family and community members touching and washing bodies of the deceased in preparation for burial were the ones most affected. The risk, now that there are no more cases registered, is that communities become complacent and unsafe practices, such as bathing of dead bodies, resume. WHO & Global Communities’ objective is also to create a response mechanism that is sensitive to cultural and religious preferences.

Six Imams have since been taken on a field visit facilitated by WHO to observe the Muslim burial section at the national cemetery, near the Disco Hill community in Margibi.  The site was officially opened by Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on December 23, 2014 and has since been operational after stopping the cremation.

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