Covid 19 and its consequences in the south
Edito
We're not giving up!
When more became known about how this ‘bloody’ Covid-19 virus is transmitted in mid-March, we were very worried. We feared the damage this disease was going to cause in our countries of operation, in the South, where human contact is usually closer and where the health and social protection systems are much less effective than in our Western countries.
We were inevitably thinking about the human catastrophe that this pandemic could cause... What could be done effectively and usefully to enable the people of the South to protect themselves individually and collectively from what was likely to be a massive contamination? In consultation with our partners, our teams quickly devised and implemented actions to prevent and treat the disease: first in Burundi, then in Benin and Togo, followed by Bolivia, the DRC, Cambodia and Madagascar - in short, wherever we have health-related activities.
We quickly sent out prevention messages in local languages on how to take precautionary measures, supplied medical equipment and supplies to the health facilities we were working with, and supported and trained the nursing staff who, like us in Belgium, were becoming increasingly overwhelmed and stressed by this unprecedented health crisis... As you will understand as you read this periodical, we know that we are all facing serious socio-economic consequences, both in the North and the South. We will not give up and we will stand by our partners to help them through this unprecedented global health crisis, trying to limit the damage and loss of life as much as possible...
Sophie Wyseur
Head of Operations
