In the last few months the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been making local and international headlines. WHO classifies Kenya a high Ebola risk area, Kenya Airways suspends flights to Ebola hit Liberia and Sierra Leone are some of the headlines that appeared in the local media. But most of the stories do not bother to explain the outbreak, how the virus is spread and how one can reduce the risk of getting it.
The Kenyan media could learn from ONE, an international campaigning and advocacy organisation taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease in Africa, on how to pass simple public health information. Recently the organisation used easy-to-understand and attention grabbing infographics to answer questions about Ebola. The visualisations mapped out the recent outbreak, illustrated the background of the virus, and explained how humans got it and how it is spread.
