Help in the era of a pandemic
10.11.2020
Reading time
4 minutes
The Polish Medical Mission supports the neediest by providing medical, nutritional, and educational help. Currently, this includes support for inhabitants of Venezuela, Syria, and Senegal, additionally threatened by the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result of COVID-19, large numbers of Venezuela’s people are unemployed. Without a steady income, it is difficult for them to provide daily meals. Thousands of children only eat one meal a day. That is why we have launched a project of delivering food parcels to the poorest in the needy Rubio region. So far, as many as 400 families have received the most necessary food products, including oil, rice, eggs, canned fish, pasta, and sugar. The project partner is Deus Caritas Est, a local medical organization.
We also support pregnant women and mothers; we plan to open a free clinic for women requiring a gynaecologist appointment, perform an ultrasound, as well as receive medications and vitamins.
Many displaced women and children have suffered from health problems as a result of the conflict in Syria. The residents who have lost limbs as a consequence of bomb attacks are the most harmed. Obtaining prostheses turned out to be practically impossible. To remedy this, we raised the funds needed to reopen the orthopaedic centre in Termanin. We provided the facility with resources for producing prostheses, which were given to 330 children and women.
Refugees in the camps are not prepared for the dangers of the coronavirus. In cooperation with a Syrian medical organization, Humanitarian Message Organization, we provided necessary protection measures. We also made sure that families received the knowledge they needed to avoid getting sick. On a daily basis, together with Syrian doctors, we help hundreds of families camping on the Syrian-Turkish border, mainly by providing them with life-saving supplies, antibiotics, and dressings.
In Senegal, malnutrition of pregnant women and newborns is a major problem. We make efforts to provide mothers with adequate information on healthy eating and hygiene, which is especially important during the pandemic. We do not want to let another children, especially those under the age of 5, develop anaemia or other diseases of the digestive system due to malnutrition.
In Thiaroye, in the local health centre, trainings on the principles of healthy eating are conducted. We hope that women – thanks to the acquired knowledge – will be more resourceful and able to prepare healthy and caloric meals from local products. We place emphasis on preventive and educational activities. For this purpose, we upskill medical professionals in our health centres and residents of villages and smaller towns, so that they can recognize the signs of malnutrition in women and children and are able to react quickly.
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