The Ministry of Health and UNICEF through Rwanda Biomedical Centre brought together local artistes to raise awareness on Ebola, in a new song dubbed “Let’s prevent ourselves from Ebola”. The song was composed and sang by artistes, Marina, Ama-G the black, New Mana and Senderi Hit International. The five minutes and 10 seconds song was produced by François Niyigena with a message of raising awareness to the citizens on how to guard themselves against Ebola. According to Fulgence Kamali, the director of health promotion in the Ministry of Health, the fight against Ebola is not only done in the medical field but entertainment can also play a role. “All fields complement on another. We are using these famous stars to help our people realise the Ebola problem and we hope this shall help us to combat this Epidemic that has never stepped in the land of a thousand hills,” he said. In the chorus, Marina asks Rwandan citizens to take self-caution in preventing themselves from Ebola. Ama-G highlights the symptoms of Ebola which are headache, abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding, and reddening of eyes, among others. He also asks anyone to call 114 or Police when encountering a patient while Senderi emphasizes caution when travelling to Ebola-affected countries and to avoid any contact related to any Ebola patient. The ebola epidemic is one of the pressing continental and global challenges in the last five years. Current figures show that in neighbouring D.R Congo, at least 3,287 cases of the epidemic struck in May 2018. In Rwanda, there is no case of ebola that has been reported so far but the government has intensified preventive measures such as screenings on the Rwanda-Congo ports of entry, refugee camps, and development of Ebola Treatment centre in Rubavu District. It is not the first time the Ministry of Health is using entertainment stars for health sensitization. Last year Knowless, Tom Close, Aline Gahongayire, Abdul Makanyaga and Riderman collaborated in the song “Imbaraga z’iminsi igihumbi” loosely translated as “The power of 1000 days” that aimed at raising awareness of the maternal life of a child and a parent.
