The German aid organisations I.S.A.R. Germany, humedica and CADUS are sending a medical team to Namibia on Saturday, 17 October 2020. As part of a COVID-19 support mission organised by the Robert Koch Institute, the medical experts are helping the health authorities in the south-west African country to contain the spread of COVID-19. The so-called Emergency Medical Team (EMT) consists of 14 members. These include doctors, nurses, a respiratory therapist and logisticians.
„In recent months, we have already been able to gather extensive experience during missions in Armenia and Kosovo. We can now incorporate this into the mission in Namibia“, said I.S.A.R. President Dr Daniela Lesmeister. In Armenia and Kosovo, for example, the German teams supported medical staff by providing training to help contain the spread of COVID-19.
Something similar is also planned for Namibia. In order to gain a comprehensive impression, the team will split up and spend two weeks working at different locations within the country.
„Namibia has built up a great deal of capacity for intensive medical care in recent months.“, says humedica Managing Director Johannes Peter. „However, there is a lack of knowledge about intensive care medicine and infectiology in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic in many places. The team will therefore analyse the situation on the ground and then propose appropriate measures and strategies.“
CADUS Co-Chairwoman Dr Corinna Schäfer explains: „During the first wave of the pandemic, we in Germany were able to learn a lot about the virus and how to deal with it. We now want to pass this knowledge on to our Namibian colleagues.“
The deployment of the German EMT in Namibia is supported logistically and financially by a twinning project between the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services and the Robert Koch Institute. This twinning project, which began in early 2020, is funded by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) as part of the Global Health Protection Programme (GHPP). The long-term goal is to establish a „Namibia Public Health Institute“ to strengthen the Namibian health system and be better prepared for pandemics and epidemics such as COVID-19.
Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) are emergency medical teams classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that can provide emergency medical aid in the event of a health crisis worldwide.
Photo: I.S.A.R. helpers have already been deployed in Armenia and Kosovo to combat Covid 19.