Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has recently made remarkable progress on its project to support Coronavirus control efforts in 22 countries. At a total cost of $233,670, many activities were done to reduce the spread of the pandemic in Ethiopia, El Salvador, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Vanuatu, and Mauritania.

In Ethiopia, multi-sector aid was delivered in Gambella and Oromia Regions. The activities done included (1) training community volunteers to carry out awareness campaigns to vulnerable communities; (2) providing personal protective equipment (PPE) for volunteers and community to reduce the virus dissemination; (3) launching community awareness campaigns about COVID-19 causes, symptoms, and how to prevent it; and (4) training health professionals at isolation centers and providing them with hygiene and nonmedical kits.

Moreover, four hospitals and the clinic of the Ethiopian Red Cross Societys (ERCS) West Hararghe Branch received PPE and infection prevention and control (IPC) materials. The number of beneficiaries is around 65,210, with a cost of $113,670.

In El Salvador, 396 PPE kits were distributed to the doctors and prehospital care personnel at the Emergency Clinic, Blood Center, and Volunteers Directorate. Hygiene kits and food parcels were distributed to 425 affected persons and 100 families (400 persons), respectively.

In Senegal, QRCS worked with the Senegalese Red Cross Society to bridge the gap in the Ministry of Health (MOH) and community efforts to combat COVID-19, through advocacy, sensitization, and monitoring for the populations of Dakar, Thies, Diourbel, Kaolack, Ziguinchor, and Tambacounda.

The $20,000 project involved providing protective materials (such as masks and sanitizers) and logistics, conducting community awareness programs through the radio and home visits, monitoring the pandemic situation, and detecting infected/contact cases through thermal tests.

These activities reached out to 182,450 direct beneficiaries, in addition to 2 million indirect beneficiaries.

In the Bombali and Koinadugu Districts of Sierra Leone, the volunteers of Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) distributed information, education, and communication (IEC) materials and IPC materials (hand sanitizers, liquid soap, and household hand washing buckets).

Volunteer-led and media awareness-raising programs were conducted at the household and community levels. The cost of these activities was $20,000, with a total of 11,418 beneficiaries.

Southward to Vanuatu, preventive and informative sessions were held by Vanuatu Red Cross Society for 699 school students, teachers, and other society members.

Lastly, in Mauritania, 800 food parcels and hygiene kits were distributed to 800 vulnerable and outbreak-affected families, or 4,800 persons, in the departments of Rosso, Akjoujt, and Nouakchott. Each parcel would last for one month and contained 48.5 kg of rice, sugar, vegetable oil, soap, and hand sanitizers.

These projects are part of QRCSs initiative to back the fellow National Societies in 22 countries across six continents, aimed at protecting 320,000 persons against the virus, with a total budget of QR 2,236,827.

These countries are: Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Laos, Vanuatu, Ethiopia, Chad, Senegal, Mauritania, Lebanon, Mali, Sierra Leone, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Venezuela, El Salvador, Peru, and Panama.

(QNA)