Human preparedness

Relational infrastructures and medical countermeasures in Sierra Leone

Bibliographic Data

ID15540413
AuthorsShona J Lee (0000-0002-8584-9729, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author), Eva Vernooij (0000-0003-4745-116X, University of Edinburgh), L Enria (0000-0002-6336-6531, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), Ann H Kelly (0000-0003-4658-2133, King's College London), James T Rogers (Ministry of Health and Sanitation), Rashid Ansumana (0000-0002-1973-7200, Njala University), Mahmood H Bangura (University of Sierra Leone), Shelley Susan Lee (0000-0003-0062-7930, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), A Street (0000-0001-7874-0234, University of Edinburgh)
Year2022
Volume17
Issue12
Pages4129-4145
Publication date2022-09-27
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-1692 • E-ISSN: 1744-1706
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17441692.2022.2110917
PMID36168658
OpenAlexW4297328624
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited49

This paper examines health worker experiences in two areas of post-epidemic preparedness in Sierra Leone - vaccine trials and laboratory strengthening - to reflect on the place of people in current models of epidemic response. Drawing on ethnographic research and interviews with health workers in the aftermath of Ebola, it explores the hopes and expectations that interventions foster for frontline workers in under-resourced health systems, and describes the unseen work involved in sustaining robust response infrastructures. Our analysis focuses on what it means for the people who sustain health systems in an emergency to be 'prepared' for an epidemic. Human preparedness entails more than the presence of a labour force; it involves building and maintaining 'relational infrastructures', often fragile social and moral relationships between health workers, publics, governments, and international organisations. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the value of rethinking human resources from an anthropological perspective, and investing in the safety and support of people at the forefront of response. In describing the labour, personal losses, and social risks undertaken by frontline workers for protocols and practicality to meet in an emergency context, we describe the social process of preparedness; that is, the contextual engineering and investment that make response systems work

Context (archaeology · Economic growth · Geography · Political science · Preparedness · Public relations · Sierra leone · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Work (physics · Disaster Response and Management · Engineering · Global Security and Public Health · Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research

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Open DOIOpen Access