Humanity & Inclusion’s teams are assessing its scope for action and plans to use its expertise in emergency situations, working with and for people with disabilities and older people, and its experience of past epidemic situations to protect the most vulnerable.
The COVID-19—or coronavirus—epidemic is spreading at a rapid rate in all of the countries where Humanity & Inclusion works. Some countries are reporting their first cases, while others have already experienced an exponential rise in the number of cases and deaths. The spread of the coronavirus threatens to cause major health disasters where we work.
A unique expertise to fight the virus
Humanity & Inclusion remains committed to helping those most in need by continuing to assist its beneficiaries wherever possible, without exposing our teams to danger. We are also preparing to adapt our response in the field. We plan to use our expertise in major epidemic situations to help people, particularly those exposed to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
History of action against epidemics
In our 38 years, we have responded to other major epidemics, in order to prevent their spread and to protect local communities.
Ebola
In 2016, in Sierra Leone, our teams worked to contain the spread of Ebola. As part of our response, our logistics experts managed the country’s only centralized ambulance service to transport patients who were suspected to be infected and disinfected their homes. The ambulance service played a very important role in breaking the chain of transmission. We did this work in a district of Sierra Leone, including the capital Freetown.
Cholera
Our teams also helped prevent cholera epidemics in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake and in 2010 after severe floods in Pakistan. We did social mobilization work and led awareness-raising activities. We also organized informational sessions for vulnerable individuals.
Determining our scope of action
Humanity & Inclusion’s experts are examining how best to respond to the current, unprecedented crisis, and how to adapt its resources to this response. We plan to work within the COVID-19 response strategies implemented by national authorities in the countries in question, and by all actors involved in pandemic response.
Protecting the most vulnerable from COVID-19
One of our main priorities will be to take into account the needs of vulnerable individuals. This includes people with disabilities, older individuals, and also people living very close to refugee camps who are particularly at risk of rapid spread.
Weak health systems combined with humanitarian crises increase the vulnerability of people living in the world’s poorest countries. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sounded the alarm on March 19, when he spoke of the threat posed to the poorest countries faced with the spread of the epidemic. As 15% – 20% of patients on average require hospital care, and 6% intensive care, health systems in these countries will be unable to cope with the crisis alone.
Ensuring accessible messaging & an inclusive response
Humanity & Inclusion will take part in prevention actions and ensure awareness messages are adapted and inclusive for people with disabilities and the most vulnerable. To start, we published a repository of resources on disability inclusion and COVID-19 as a member of the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) and the CORE Group Disability Inclusive Health Technical Advisory Group.
We also plan to provide support to our local partners, such as Organizations for People with Disabilities (OPDs or DPOs), and local authorities.
Securing the resources for action
Our teams on the ground will require additional resources to combat the COVID-19 crisis. We will need financial support, along with special equipment which is currently in short supply around the world, and in short supply to our local teams.
We will do everything we can to protect as many people as possible and help break the spread of COVID-19. We are so grateful to our supporters for standing alongside us as we take on this challenge. But we will need your continued support.
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Photo caption: Humanity & Inclusion staff evaluate people who were injured in the 2015 Nepal earthquake.