The Conversation

Dr Ngozi Kennedy works as a health specialist for UNICEF which is one of the organisations supporting the Government's response to Ebola in Sierra Leone. From her home city of Freetown she talks about its impact on women, children and adolescents and how just as her workload increased, her children have to be at home, bored and frustrated, as a result of the school closures. Sierra Leone-born Fredanna M'Cormack-McGough is professor of Public Health at Coastal Carolina University. She was in Sierra Leone conducting research on the health system when the first Ebola case was recorded in May. On her return to America after three months, she had to allay the fears of her own community about whether she was harbouring the virus - in effect she became a case study for the course she teaches. Kim Chakanetsa hosts a conversation between both women involved in the fight against Ebola in West Africa. From a US and Sierra Leonean perspective, these public health experts compare their experiences in dealing with the spread of the virus and discuss how it has impacted their personal lives in surprising ways. (Picture: Dr Fredanna M'Cormack-McGough (left) and Dr Ngozi Kennedy)