ArticleBulletin of the World Health Organization2021
Engaging religious leaders to promote safe burial practices during the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak, Sierra Leone.
Article in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Misconceptions and Rumors about Ebola Virus Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Factors affecting management of corpses of the confirmed COVID-19 patients during pandemic: A systematic review.Journal of forensic and legal medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Debunking COVID-19 vaccine misinformation with an audio drama in Ghana, a randomized control trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Mapping risk communication practices in public health emergencies: a scoping review and comparison with Italian regional pandemic plans.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Health information dynamics and audience responses to avian influenza on YouTube: Implications for digital public health communication.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Building confidence in crises - the roles of Sierra Leonean religious leaders' during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak.Global health action · 2025Article
- Approaches to Studying Religion and Public Health: A Narrative Review and Interdisciplinary Framework.Journal of religion and health · 2025Review
- Reducing transmission in multiple settings is required to eliminate the risk of major Ebola outbreaks: a mathematical modelling study.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- A scoping review of cultural issues concerning institutional quarantine and isolation during major multi-country outbreaks in Africa: 2000-2023.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Marburg virus outbreak in Tanzania: A threat to global health security.Public health challenges · 2023Article
- Exploring the Contextual Factors of Religious Leader Participation in Health Communication: Evidence from a Qualitative Study in Sierra Leone.Journal of religion and health · 2023Article
- Epidemiology of Ebolaviruses from an Etiological Perspective.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Role of Information Sources in Vaccination Uptake: Insights From a Cross-Sectional Household Survey in Sierra Leone, 2019.Global health, science and practice · 2022Article
- Engaging religious leaders to promote safe burial practices during the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak, Sierra Leone.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo quantify the potential impact of engaging religious leaders in promoting safe burial practices during the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Sierra Leone.
methodsWe analysed population-based household survey data from 3540 respondents collected around the peak of the outbreak in Sierra Leone, December 2014. Respondents were asked if in the past month they had heard an imam or pastor say that people should not touch or wash a dead body. We used multilevel logistic regression modelling to examine if exposure to religious leaders' messages was associated with protective burial intentions if a family member died at home and other Ebola protective behaviours.
findingsOf the respondents, 3148 (89%) had been exposed to faith-based messages from religious leaders on safe Ebola burials and 369 (10%) were unexposed. Exposure to religious leaders' messages was associated with a nearly twofold increase in the intention to accept safe alternatives to traditional burials and the intention to wait ≥ 2 days for burial teams (adjusted odds ratio, aOR: 1.69; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.23-2.31 and aOR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.38-2.44, respectively). Exposure to messages from religious leaders was also associated with avoidance of traditional burials and of contact with suspected Ebola patients (aOR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.14-1.89 and aOR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.27-2.13, respectively).
conclusionPublic health messages promoted by religious leaders may have influenced safe burial behaviours during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Engagement of religious leaders in risk communication should be prioritized during health emergencies in similar settings.
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