‘Hunger Games’ cast stars in Ebola PSA video

(Ebola Survival Fund/Youtube)

The stars of The Hunger Games franchise have paired with the Ebola Survival Fund to film a PSA video and raise awareness of the virus’ devastating impact in West Africa.

Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jeffrey Wright, Julianne Moore, and Mahershala Ali discuss facts about the outbreak, which has sickened at least 20,000 and killed  more than 7,800 in West Africa.

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Only two out of every 10 afflicted patients in some parts of West Africa survive, Ali points out. Without access to the same resources as Americans— such as IV fluids, electrolytes, food, fully-equipped modern hospitals, well-trained medical professionals — survival is greatly reduced.

“If they have those, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” Hutcherson says.

The video points out that, of the eight American patients treated in U.S. hospitals, 100 percent survived.

“With high-quality supportive care, the great majority of people in West Africa will survive Ebola,” Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, says in the video.

“Ebola is not a death sentence,”  Moore says.

According to their website, the Ebola Survival Fund will “support a coalition of community-based organizations working in Liberia and Sierra Leone in order to complement the efforts of the larger-scale programs being implemented by international organizations.”

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 Organization (WHO). The virus is transmitted only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, or with any surface or material contaminated with those fluids.

“What would happen if you got Ebola?” Josh Hutcherson asks Jennifer Lawrence in the video. After a pause, she responds, “I’d be fine.”