VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN AND PUBLIC HEALTH: TOWARDS CONTAINING THE OUTBREAK OF EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Sometime in 2014, the menace of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) surfaced in Nigeria, following the death of Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American, an Ebola patient in Lagos, and a nurse who treated him. The entire citizenry were bewildered at the development. With this, the Nigerian Government at all levels made conscious effort to contain EVD, to avoid an epidemic. Consequently, people were compelled to resort to desperate, delusional measures which included bathing and drinking of salted hot water, excessive consumption of bitter kola, among others. These revealed the level ignorance of the populace on the facts of Ebola Virus Disease. In order to bridge the gap, this study presented visual communication as an avenue for mass education of the Nigerian populace through outdoor poster medium. Model A2 sized posters with digital illustrations and detailed information concerning EVD were designed and visualized using Adobe Photoshop and CorelDraw applications. Each poster had English titles. The visual messages would no doubt educate the literates and illiterates in the streets of Nigeria, on the facts of Ebola Virus Disease. The information will undoubtedly help to inform the populace on how to prepare themselves in case of future outbreak of EVD hence it could reoccur.