Ebola worries 4 of 5 Pinoys

MANILA, Philippines - Four of five Filipinos or 82 percent of those who are aware about the Ebola virus are worried that they or their family members could catch it, according to a recent survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The survey showed that seven out of 10 or 73 percent of Filipinos are aware of the disease.

Those who worry about catching the virus are higher in the Visayas (90 percent) and Mindanao (91 percent) than in Metro Manila (76 percent) and the rest of Luzon (77 percent).

Data on those who worry that they or their family members would catch Ebola are similar to the worries of catching the A(H1N1) swine flu in 2009 (82 percent) and bird flu (83 percent) in 2006. It was slightly higher than the worry of catching Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 (78 percent).

The survey was conducted from Sept. 26 to 29 with 1,200 Filipino adult respondents – 300 each from Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

SWS said the survey is non-commissioned and part of its public service.

Only 6 percent of the respondents said they have extensive knowledge of Ebola and 23 percent said they have adequate knowledge. At least 44 percent of the respondents admitted that they only have partial or little knowledge of the disease while the rest (27 percent) have no knowledge at all.

Followed the news

The survey also showed 52 percent of Filipinos followed news on the spread of Ebola in other countries, while 18 percent followed the news about it “just a little.” Twenty percent of the respondents did not follow the news about the disease, with the remaining 10 percent said they heard about Ebola for the first time.

By area, SWS said 83 percent and 77 percent of the respondents in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, respectively, know of the virus. At least 68 percent and 65 percent of the respondents in the Visayas and Mindanao, respectively, were aware of the disease.

The survey showed that about 32 percent in the Visayas and 35 percent in Mindanao have no knowledge of Ebola, compared to 23 percent in the balance of Luzon and 17 percent in Metro Manila.

Those who know of Ebola increases among those with higher educational attainment: 53 percent among non-elementary graduates, 62 percent among elementary graduates, 84 percent among high school graduates, and 93 percent among college graduates.