Nigerian Ebola Educational Website Receives over Half a Million Hits in One Week
In the wake of West Africa’s most recent and deadly Ebola outbreak, Lagos-based publishing house Big Cabal Media has curated and launched an educational website called Ebola Facts warning of the symptoms of Ebola, explaining what the virus actually is, dispelling myths, as well as the means of the virus’ transmission in a manner that communicate effectively to the local audience. The launch comes as the virus continues to ravage communities in West Africa, and is creeping across international borders at an alarming rate.
The developers of the site Seyi Taylor and Bankole Oluwafemi say, “Simply put, we wanted to save lives. By reaching out to people via a medium they were increasingly using in a manner that was simple and easy to grasp, we were able to give them the tools to protect themselves and their familires.”
Since launch, the site has received over 600,000 hits and has been seen on Facebook about 850,000 times. There have also been requests for it to be printed for wider distribution to communities without the internet. Content from the site has also been developed into a flyer, newspaper ads and digital billboards. Work is now ongoing to translate the site to French, Swahili, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Pidgin to cater to a growing regional audience.
“Technology is a great enabler, for commerce, for social interaction and we hope, with Ebola Facts, for healthcare. We’re been contacted by government officials and medical professionals, who are very excited about the fact that young Africans are finding new and innovative ways of reaching out to as many people as possible to help save lives.”