Raising Awareness of COVID-19

It’s most unfortunate that many people in hard-to-reach areas don’t have access to the internet or other information sources to survive the onslaught of COVID-19.

As much as the world knows, Yemen’s healthcare system is about to collapse due to a 5-year of constant war and armed conflicts. Adding insult to injury, most of Yemen’s population in remote areas doesn’t have access to healthcare services even before the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

The existing pandemic of COVID-19 has just doubled the needs and increased the vulnerability levels within most affected communities. Truth be told, the majority of vulnerable people realize its grave risks and serious consequences, yet they cannot stay home and watch their children starve to death.

As if July 1st, 32 new confirmed cases and 6 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported by WHO, reaching a total number of 1,222 confirmed cases and 324 related deaths in Yemen.

The number of confirmed cases will be increasing rapidly unless we launch several awareness-raising campaigns to bring information on prevention and symptoms of the disease to tens of thousands of people, especially those who live in rural areas with no access to the internet or other information sources to survive the onslaught of COVID-19.

Owing to the generous support of Sign of Hope e.V, Relief and Development Peer Foundation (RDP) was able to reach 50,983 individuals through awareness sessions and train 141 community health volunteers (CHVs) on the preventive measures of COVID-19 in 7 districts of Ibb and Taizz governorates. RDP has also provided essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to 236 supported FDPs and 9 health facilities in the targeted districts. Besides, 800 packs of masks and gloves were being distributed while raising awareness for the public.

COVID-19 Infection Prevention And Control Training for 141 Community Health Volunteers (CHVs)

As a result of the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Yemen, RDP has implemented the project of COVID-19 infection prevention activities to support community health volunteers with trainings and deliver coronavirus-related messages to those living in furthest areas with no access to information sources. A total of 141 CHVs have been selected for the training, which covered the fundamentals of infection prevention and control of COVID-19, in Sama and As Silw districts of Taizz governorate. COVID-19 prevention training materials have been printed and distributed for all the training attendees as well as following the precautionary measures during the training. The trainers used many training techniques such as lecture, group discussion, flashes and effective participation from all trainees.

Additionally, the training focused on rural and remote communities, targeting 76 individuals from Sama district and 65 individuals from As Silw district. It has improved CHVs’ capacity for learning and enabled them to raise awareness among people at a community level.

In addition to COVID-19 training for 141 CHVs, RDP has provided essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to 236 supported FDPs and 9 health facilities in 7 targeted districts (Muthaikhera, Fara AlUdain, AlUdain, Hazm AlUdain, Al Qafr, Sama, and As Silw) of Ibb and Taizz governorates. 800 packs of masks and gloves were being distributed while raising awareness for the public.

Also, providing 4,000 IEC materials, 2,000 posters containing the main information about COVID-19 infection and 2,000 posters containing the means of protection and prevention to be used during the awareness sessions and in public areas of the 7 targeted districts.

Reaching 50,983 Individuals Through Door-to-door Campaigns to Raise Awareness Within Communities

The door-to-door campaign proved to be the most effective way to raise awareness within communities. Thus, our CHVs started conducting awareness-raising sessions on a daily basis, aiming to create awareness on coronavirus-related messages among the general population and to improve the focus on better outcomes as behavioral change. A total number of 50,983 individuals (15,804 men, 18,835 women, 7,960 boys, 8,384 girls) were achieved through awareness sessions. All in all, prevention from various life-threatening diseases – including COVID-19 – is mainly achieved through understanding the disease in a thorough frame including the causative agent, the mode of transmission, the symptoms and signs of the disease and also the rules of dealing with affected persons.