{"id":33174,"date":"2020-05-04T15:28:42","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T13:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/en\/?p=33174"},"modified":"2020-05-04T15:28:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T13:28:42","slug":"mozambique-and-coronavirus-three-voices-three-fronts-of-commitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/mozambique-and-coronavirus-three-voices-three-fronts-of-commitment\/","title":{"rendered":"Mozambique and Coronavirus Three voices, three fronts of commitment"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Mozambique Covid-19 victims aren\u2019t reported yet, but there are 41 confirmed cases out of a thousand tested suspects. Very low numbers for a country of thirty million inhabitants, whose capital city, Maputo, the most severely hit area at the moment, is not far from the border with South Africa: the most affected country to the south of the Sahara desert, with over 3,600 notified cases. With just one lab which can confirm virus positivity at a national level and the awareness that half the cases are asymptomatic,\u00a0it\u2019s highly likely that the numbers don\u2019t represent the real circulation of the virus in the Country<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Doctors with Africa CUAMM has been working for over one month and a half in close collaboration with the Mozambique ministry of health, both at a national and provincial level, joining technical meetings to organize a response to coronavirus that puts prevention first, as\u00a0Laura Nollino<\/strong>, endocrinologist who arrived in Mozambique one year ago to cure diabetes, explains:<\/p>\n

\u00abWe have a time advantage that we have to use in the best way in order not to be overwhelmed by the epidemic. We\u2019re trying to use it to look for containment measures of the virus and protection of the healthcare staff, who don\u2019t have to get sick. Here, too, maybe more than in Italy,\u00a0it\u2019s difficult to find face masks and other simple but essential tools<\/strong>\u00a0to prevent the spread. The minister of health has declared that there are 34 ventilators in the country, they\u2019re important but we don\u2019t believe that they\u2019re the solution: there could be even more, but doctors who can use them would be missing. In the Country there\u2019s less than one doctor every 10,000 inhabitants and I wouldn\u2019t be able to use a ventilator, because I\u2019m not a resuscitator specialist.\u00a0That\u2019s why prevention and training are the key to avoid a disaster<\/strong>\u00bb.<\/p>\n

Giovanna De Meneghi\u00a0<\/strong>has been in Mozambique for two years, after living in post-Ebola Sierra Leone and as country manager she\u2019s responsible for the coordination of project which are still active in the provinces of Tete, Sofala and Cabo Delgado, in addition to the support to the district healthcare activities of Maputo, Zambezia and Nampula. Like the other colleagues she works from home, limiting social contacts and outings:<\/p>\n

\u00abIt\u2019s very strange and a little tiresome.\u00a0Last first of April the government declared, for the first time since the peace of 1992, the state of emergency<\/strong>: movements are limited and in public places, or when it\u2019s not possible to assure the distance of one and a half metre, everyone must wear face masks aka\u00a0mascaras caseiras\u00a0<\/em>of\u00a0capulana\u00a0<\/em>made according to the indications of the WHO.\u00a0One year ago we were in the middle of the management of the emergency linked to the cyclones Idai in\u00a0Sofala\u00a0and Kenneth in Cabo Delgado<\/strong>, which had destroyed houses, healthcare centers and hospitals, in addition to causing more than 600 dead people and many displaced people. Now we\u2019re in the middle of a global emergency: there years are intense for Mozambique\u00bb.<\/p>\n

The state of emergency hasn\u2019t currently resulted in a total lockdown of the activities, the same as in other African countries, which have imposed lockdowns on business activities as well.\u00a0Edoardo Occa<\/strong>, anthropologist and manager of the community activities of Doctors withAfrica Cuamm, explains:<\/p>\n

\u00abAn African city lives off informal, street economy. Preventing people from selling and meeting on the street is a problematic choice, which may have an immediate impact of economic revenues of many families who take life one day at a time\u00bb.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

In the communities a network of 500 operators<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Edoardo Occa joins on behalf of Doctors with Africa CUAMM the technical meetings on the topic of community health:<\/p>\n

\u00abAs CUAMM \u2013 he explains \u2013 we can count on\u00a0a network of 500 operators who already work with us in their original communities to fight HIV and favour mother andchild health<\/strong>\u00bb.<\/p>\n

This precious network was created to spread awareness-raising messages on coronavirus, working in small groups to fulfil social distancing. The virus doesn\u2019t just change social habits, but also the approach to the community. Occa continues:<\/p>\n

\u00abWhile before the operators went from home to home to meet people, today we\u2019ve had to change strategy, to limit contacts..\u00a0We\u2019ve made radio commercials\u00a0<\/strong>which are broadcasted in seven different dialects, to reach everyone, and\u00a0we\u2019ve equipped our cars with loud speakers<\/strong>, driving around the districs of Beira, Tete or Quelimane spreading the \u00a0recommendations on Covid19. At Cabo Delgado a positive collaboration was established:\u00a0the Islamic council of the city has allowed us to broadcast the messages on the loudspeakers of the minarets<\/strong>\u00bb.<\/p>\n

In addition to the fight against the fake news on the virus and the preparation of new replacement practices for the rituals linked to birth and death, many other habits need to be reviewed, in Mozambique like the rest of the world. For example we\u2019re working, together with the ministry of health, on the creation of the position of the\u00a0\u201cepidemiological sentinel\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 a community operator who will be a reference point for the village and will filter suspect cases and healthcare facilities, directing to the hospital only those people who are really at risk and following people at home, so that with the movements between villages and healthcare facilities the virus doesn\u2019t spread excessively.<\/p>\n

\u00abMany of these operators are just volunteers\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Edoardo Occa tells \u2013 and carry out these new jobs, which often expose them to risks, with an admirable spirit of service for the community. We have to convince people to change habits: it\u2019s hard, for all. In many cases the virus will call into question consolidated power systems in the communities, but people are changing their habits and having many motivated and influential operators by our side for us is essential right now\u00bb.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Italy seen from Mozambique<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00abAlways thinking about the\u00a0post-cyclone\u00a0situation\u00a0<\/strong>of one year ago \u2013 Giovanna De Meneghi tells \u2013 it comes to my mind how\u00a0Italy promptly helped us, sending aid and economic support. Now, at least as concerns family and friends, we have to help to understand how to move, how to live in a state of emergency<\/strong>. As NGO workers we\u2019re more used to situations of this kind: uncertainty and suspension in fragile settings are frequent. Now everyone worldwide has to get used to a new normality\u00bb.<\/p>\n

\u00abAs a doctor \u2013 Laura Nollino admits \u2013 when the epidemic in Italy was at its peak I seriously thought to return to Italy, to make myself useful. This emergency has affected us all: our families are often in Lombardy and Veneto, it wasn\u2019t easy to decide to stay. Then I understood that it would have been equally useful to remain here, to prepare to a wave which could arrive. And then the virus is not the only problem: we\u2019ve redesigned the projects to also tackle the virus, my specialization was diabetes and\u00a0patients continue to need cures, like HIV-positive people, or pregnant women who must deliver at the hospital. It\u2019s also right to remain for them<\/strong>, in addition to the healthcare staff we work with, they are essential and we have to train them and protect them from the virus as much as possible\u00bb.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CUAMM in Mozambique mobilizes against Covid-19 thanks to the enthusiasm of volunteers and unexpected collaborations.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":33175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1172,2493],"tags":[992,1228],"argomenti":[2515,2522],"protagonisti":[],"luoghi":[2513],"class_list":["post-33174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-homenews","tag-covid-19","tag-coronavirus","argomenti-coronavirus","argomenti-covid-19","luoghi-mozambique"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33174"},{"taxonomy":"argomenti","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/argomenti?post=33174"},{"taxonomy":"protagonisti","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonisti?post=33174"},{"taxonomy":"luoghi","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/luoghi?post=33174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}