What is EBODAC?
In response to the ongoing Ebola virus crisis, the Ebola Vaccine Deployment, Acceptance and Compliance (EBODAC) consortium has been developing strategies and tools to promote the acceptance and uptake of new Ebola vaccines, to help the right persons receive the right vaccine at the right time. According to the WHO, good outbreak control relies on a package of interventions namely, community engagement, contact tracing and social mobilisation.
EBODAC used community engagement, enabling technologies such as iris scanning and phone messaging as well as clear communication methods to build trust and address misconceptions surrounding the vaccine in the community. EBODAC worked to build local knowledge and capacity and strengthen health systems by working with Ministries of Health and Community Health Workers by providing training and preparedness activities for the potential future deployment of a licensed vaccine.
Introduction to EBODAC
Our consortium partners
Country focus
Sierra Leone
World Vision Ireland, as part of the EBODAC consortium, has played a key role in supporting clinical trials of Ebola vaccines in Sierra Leone. Since 2015, together with World Vision Sierra Leone, we worked closely with local communities through a team of Community Liaison facilitators to:
- address rumours and misinformation surrounding Ebola and Ebola vaccines;
- ensure participant retention in the trials through follow up visits and regular community stakeholder gatherings.
Uganda
Uganda is a key country for Ebola vaccine deployment preparedness activities due to its history of Ebola outbreaks and close proximity to DRC. World Vision Ireland and World Vision Uganda, alongside the Ministry of Health Uganda, developed a National Communication, Community Engagement and Compliance Management (3C) Strategy for Ebola vaccine deployment, taking into account key contextual issues, to promote the success of any future vaccine deployments in the country.
Democratic Republic of Congo
The WHO declared a new outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in DRC in August 2018. World Vision Ireland, together with World Vision DRC, supported the clinical trials of Ebola Vaccines starting in 2019, which included technical support, field visit reviews and cross border engagements between DRC and Rwanda:
- Community Engagement Team addressed stigma, rumours and misconceptions about Ebola and the vaccines.
- Community Health Workers (CHWs) raised awareness in households and followed up with participants about their vaccine booster dose.
- World Vision also trained faith leaders, women and youth leaders in Channels of Hope for Ebola to support vaccine uptake and compliance.
"Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned, working with individuals, faith leaders, health workers and communities to ensure 130,000 people received a two-dose vaccine, is how much we all need compassion and empathy. It is understandable that people are scared and tired and frustrated. Telling them they’re wrong to be opposed to a vaccine doesn’t help; working with them to think critically about their sources of information is far more effective."
Robert Kanwagi - World Vision's EBODAC coordinator
Tools, methodologies and technologies
The EBODAC consortium has also developed a number of innovative technologies to enhance participant identification and retention in the trials.
Biometrics
EBODAC uses a unique biometric kit that scans the eyes of volunteers and takes their finger prints, so that participants can be easily identified throughout the trial period and identified during their clinic visits.
MOTECH Platform
The MOTECH platform supports clinical trial teams to effectively recall participants to receive the second dose of the prime-boost vaccine regimen or attend scheduled clinic visits. It has been successfully deployed and adapted to the needs of a multilingual population with a high rate of illiteracy and a lack of familiarity with clinical trials.
MOTS (MObile Training and Support) platform
The MOTS platform aims to strengthen the training provided to Community Health Workers (CHWs). Interactive training modules were developed in line with the national health curriculum to provide CHWs with refresher training on vaccines and emergency response practices through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. Training materials are delivered to the mobile phones of remote workers as audio files in local languages, in order to make the training as effective as possible and accessible even to those with limited literacy. CHWs can listen to the training materials in their own time, giving them greater flexibility in their learning and reducing the burden on the Ministry of Health to organize physical trainings.
(3C) Gap Analysis Tool
The 3C Gap Analysis Tool enables governments and stakeholders to assess their preparedness to deploy Ebola Vaccines in the areas of Communication, Community Engagement and Compliance Management. World Vision Ireland developed the 3C Gap Analysis Tool in a two-year co-design process alongside the Ministries of Health in Sierra Leone, Senegal and Uganda and with inputs from academics, researchers and practitioners in the field of Ebola responses:
- A digital version of the 3C Gap Analysis Tool was tested alongside key health planners within the Ministry of Health Uganda.
- A shortened version of the 3C Gap Analysis Tool – the Rapid Assessment Checklist - was piloted in the Ebola outbreak areas in DRC in 2019.
More about the MOTS platform and its use
EBODAC list of publications
EBODAC web story
A guidebook on Community Engagement, Communications, and Technology
Power, fairness and trust
Making enabling technologies work
Controversial Ebola vaccine trials in Ghana
Overcoming the challenges of iris scanning
Mobile training and support (MOTS) service
Assessment of the Readiness of Community Health Workers to Participate in a Mobile Training and Support Services Innovation
EBODAC 3C Gap Analysis Tool
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