Oxfam believes that understanding communities, building trust and working collaboratively to overcome barriers to seeking out and accessing appropriate health care services is at the core of effective outbreak response. Our aim is a holistic, community-based response where an appropriate package of measures, including health promotion, active case finding, surveillance, isolation, environmental health, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), prevention, case management and psychosocial support can be delivered in an integrated and responsive way.
Partnering with medical organisations works best when the partnership is built around complementary core competencies, with each partner holding a stake in the outcome of the project. Oxfam should play an active role in community engagement, facility design and construction and project management rather than simply acting as a construction contractor.
Resources
Oxfam Guidelines on Medical Isolation Failities in Outbreak Responses and annexes
Guide to Community Engagement in WASH: A practitioner’s guide, based on lessons from Ebola