Much of the coverage of Ebola – rightfully – focuses on the communities that it affects the most. The teams that are at work on the ground are often only given voices through the organisations they represent. In this series of profiles, we are focusing on the people behind the scenes, whose quiet dedication is a vital part of the response to the Ebola outbreak.

Alliance M. Honoré is in charge of the Ebola Alert call centre in Goma City.

The call centre offers a service that supports the efficiency of the Ebola preparedness in and around the city. We handle calls on suspected Ebola cases from various sources. The information that we gather is of great interest to everyone and especially those involved in control of the spread of Ebola.

These two phones are our ‘lifeline’ to the health facilities and communities. We can trace any calls that come in back to the health zone where it was made and we can follow up for appropriate details. At the end of each day, I compile all the information - how many health zones called in, how many, if any, Ebola alerts were called in. This information goes to a database.

When we get a call about a suspected Ebola case in the community or within a health facility, I send a team to investigate. Our rapid response team is able to perform a diagnosis that validates or invalidates a case.

The presence of the alert centre really helps the communities because they’re able to reach us directly when they suspect someone may have Ebola. That means that patients don’t have to go to the health facilities until we have confirmed that it is necessary.

This system is in place to help the population by preparing them for an Ebola outbreak. We really encourage the people to call us so that we can give them more information and prevent any further spread of the virus.