The BMJ Appeal 2022-23: How safe burial helped end the 2022 Ebola epidemic

The latest outbreak of Ebola virus disease, reported in nine districts of Uganda in September 2022,1 was declared officially over by the country’s Ministry of Health on 11 January. A total of 142 cases and 55 deaths have been reported, contrasting with the 11 000 deaths during the world’s deadliest Ebola epidemic from 2014 to 2016.

The lessons learnt from the 2014-2016 epidemic in west Africa allowed the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to develop community centred and culturally adapted public health responses that allow families to mourn their dying loved ones and say goodbye in what they regard as an acceptable way while keeping them safe from infection.

“Throughout west Africa there’s a tradition of relatives washing and cleaning the body of the deceased and then using that water to cleanse their hands to signify unity,” says Bronwyn Nichol, IFRC’s epidemic preparedness and response …