Jennifer Lawrence joins 'Mockingjay' co-stars in Ebola awareness campaign
Actor Jennifer Lawrence appears in a public service announcement (PSA) about the Ebola virus with her The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 co-stars to raise awareness on the virus’ devastating impact in West Africa.
Mockingjay stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jeffrey Wright, Julianne Moore, and Mahershala Ali to discuss hard facts about the outbreak.
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Mahershala points out in the video that in some parts of West Africa, only two out of every 10 patients infected with Ebola have survived.
Without access to the same resources as Americans — such as I.V. fluids, electrolytes, food, fully-equipped modern hospitals, well-trained medical professionals — chances of survival are immensely reduced.
All eight Americans who had contracted Ebola and received treatment in US hospitals survived.
That makes the survival rate in America 100 per cent, as compared to the 20 per cent in West Africa.
Moore says: “Ebola is not a death sentence.”
“What would happen if you got Ebola?” Josh Hutcherson asks Jennifer Lawrence in the video.
After a brief pause, she responds: “I’d be fine.”
“You have a lot of doctors,” Hutcherson then points out in the clip.
The video also shows statistics pointing out that there were 19,648 confirmed Ebola cases worldwide from December 6, 2013, to December 22, 2014, with 19,643 of them in West Africa.
While there is no proven treatment available for Ebola, supportive care such as rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms improves survival, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Ebola Survival Fund, which works in conjunction with the United Nations supporting community-based groups fighting the disease in Liberia and Sierra Leone, has utilised the power of Hollywood before. Whoopi Goldberg, Alicia Keys and Idris Elba, among other celebrities, teamed up with the organisation in October to produce a PSA with a similar message.