More than 10,000 people are already infected with the coronavirus in Africa, and more than 700 have died according to AFP. If the situation is alarming (the state of emergency is declared in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia), the Ethiopian Ministry of Health is counting on a specific outcome to raise awareness and treat the bodies: “confidence provided by women “among the Ethiopian populations. For years, they have already been hundreds of people in their villages providing health prevention and protection.
So a whole team of thousands of hands, who are now responsible for monitoring new cases, identifying symptoms, encouraging social distancing and relaying information about the disease – by unseating “fake news” in passing . False news that goes far beyond the simple factual stage. Many people do believe that “God will save them” from the coronavirus, Reuters continues.
Health “workers” or “auxiliaries” with heterogeneous profiles, ranging from medical students to mothers and experienced teachers. The director of the public health NGO Amref Health Africa, Misrak Makonnen, is convinced that the close relationship which unites these learned citizens with their neighborhood can only be beneficial. “The community has known and listened to them for years, since they probably already helped a mother when she was pregnant, when she had children, when she had to have them vaccinated,” he explains. .
Ideal for raising awareness and therefore helping them. Alas, if this “army” of caregivers is a good alternative, it cannot act as a quick fix, far from it. And specialists are more willing to insist on the support of material and economic support to fight the pandemic. “We must train these auxiliaries and especially equip them well, otherwise they can be a source of disease transmission”, insists in this sense Azeb Tesema, assistant professor of public health at the University of Mekelle (in the north of Ethiopia ).
Worldwide, recalls the NGO Care, no less than 70% of jobs in “care”, between the health and social sectors, are occupied by women. A dominant that Ethiopia only supports.
Article first published on https://www.terrafemina.com/article/coronavirus-l-ethiopie-fait-appel-a-une-armee-de-soignantes-pour-lutter-contre-la-pandemie_a353302/1