Abstract:

Background: From 1st January to 11th November 2018, a total of 3016 suspected cases of Lasa fever was reported from 22 states but 4 states including Ebonyi state remained in the active phase. Onuenyim Agbaja in Izzi LGA has been in the eye of the storm with all confirmed cases ending in mortality.

Objective: To assess the role of civil sectors in the control of Lassa fever in Onuenyim Village.

Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with data collected using a Likert scale questionnaire rated 1-5 from most negative (low) to most positive (high) responses with a mean value above 3.5 regarded as positive (high)

Results: A total of 250 respondents participated in the study which showed that the civil sectors played active role in the control of Lassa fever through advocacy with a mean rating (MNR) of 4.7, resource mobilization with MNR of 4.4 and information sharing and dissemination with MNR of 4.4 These activities had positive effect on the people as shown by an MNR of 3.6. However, the respondents were not sure they knew all they were supposed to know about Lassa fever as shown by an MNR of 1.5.

Conclusion/Recommendations: There is great potential for improving public health through systematic collaboration between governments and civil society. This study tried to lay foundation on the role of the civil sectors in the control of Lassa fever but there is need to collect more systematic evidence on the role of civil sectors in the control of Lassa fever, to improve our knowledge.

Major players in the health industry including government at all levels need to work with civil society for the social dimensions of health actions for infectious disease control especially the emerging and re-emerging infections like Lassa fever.

Keywords: Assessment, Roles, Civil sectors, Control, Lassa fever.

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