Facebook Announces Initiatives Against Ebola
Facebook will start offering users an easy way to donate and help health organizations continues their research on Ebola, will show information on Ebola symptoms and treatment and also provide communications capacity to medical and aid workers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Facebook's Donate feature aims at raising awareness and funds for International Medical Corps, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Save the Children. Over the next week, people on Facebook will see a message at the top of News Feed with an option to donate.
Collaborating with UNICEF, Facebook will show information on Ebola symptoms and treatment to people in targeted regions on Facebook. These UNICEF messages, which appear in News Feed in the appropriate local language, focus on Ebola detection, prevention and treatment.
Working with NetHope, a consortium of 41 international NGOs, Facebook will also provide vital communications capacity to medical and aid workers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Facebook is donating 100 mobile satellite communication terminals for deployment in remote areas of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and to provide voice and data services that meet the highest priority needs of medical and aid workers. These terminals, called Broadband Global Area Network devices, communicate via satellite and provide mobile broadband and telephony services.
Focusing on areas where there is little to no existing communications capacity, NetHope will deploy these terminals to help medical and aid workers with contact tracing, communication, case management and community mobilization.
In the past few months, Ebola has directly impacted the populations of multiple countries in West Africa. According to the World Health Organization, there have been over 13,000 cases of this deadly disease around the world.
Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg also recently donated $25 million to help fight the spread of the virus.
Collaborating with UNICEF, Facebook will show information on Ebola symptoms and treatment to people in targeted regions on Facebook. These UNICEF messages, which appear in News Feed in the appropriate local language, focus on Ebola detection, prevention and treatment.
Working with NetHope, a consortium of 41 international NGOs, Facebook will also provide vital communications capacity to medical and aid workers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Facebook is donating 100 mobile satellite communication terminals for deployment in remote areas of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and to provide voice and data services that meet the highest priority needs of medical and aid workers. These terminals, called Broadband Global Area Network devices, communicate via satellite and provide mobile broadband and telephony services.
Focusing on areas where there is little to no existing communications capacity, NetHope will deploy these terminals to help medical and aid workers with contact tracing, communication, case management and community mobilization.
In the past few months, Ebola has directly impacted the populations of multiple countries in West Africa. According to the World Health Organization, there have been over 13,000 cases of this deadly disease around the world.
Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg also recently donated $25 million to help fight the spread of the virus.