Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has said it is working on its large-scale project to support Covid-19 control efforts for the benefit of 320,000 people in 22 countries.
These countries are Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Laos, Ethiopia, Chad, Senegal, Mauritania, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Sierra Leone, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Venezuela, El Salvador, Peru, Panama and Vanuatu.
In Palestine, QRCS’s representation mission in the West Bank and Jerusalem is working together with Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to provide medications, equipment and medical consumables to enable the host national society in reducing the spread of the virus across cities and towns.


Some of the medical supplies

The medical aid to be supplied to hospitals and health centres is valued at $40,000, with an estimated 8,500 beneficiaries per month.
More than 5,000 packages of diverse medications have already been delivered to the warehouses of PRCS.
Currently, 13 vital signs monitors are being procured to be installed in ambulances engaged in the Covid-19 emergency response. Also, medical supplies are provided to support the personnel of PRCS’s ambulance services fighting the coronavirus, thereby easing the burden on the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH).
The technical specifications of equipment have been designated to initiate the purchase order through a public tender. The bids received would be examined and evaluated by a technical committee, which would then submit recommendations to the central committee for final awarding.
All the procedures of purchasing medications and medical supplies have been finalised to meet the needs of PRCS, in accordance with the same tendering process.
This is in response to the level-3 state of emergency announced by PRCS amid a recent jump in the number of coronavirus infections. PRCS is the organisation responsible for providing emergency care services in relation to transportation and admission to hospitals in the West Bank. Its premises are utilised as quarantine and isolation facilities, in co-ordination with the MoH.
In Tirana, the capital of Albania, an agreement was signed with the Albanian Red Cross (ARC) to implement a project to help the families financially affected by the lockdown.
The preparation of lists of beneficiaries is in progress in co-operation with the national authorities. The food items are in the process of purchase, in
conformity with the tendering regulations of QRCS and ARC.
Targeting 700 families (or 3,500 people), the project involves distributing food baskets at a total cost of $20,000. The beneficiaries were selected based on certain criteria, including older persons, patients, poor families, unemployed family breadwinners and earthquake-affected families.
In Peru, 60% of protective items, control equipment and sanitisers have already been procured, to be co-distributed by the Peruvian Red Cross in hygiene kits. The process will be completed within two weeks, and public awareness programmes will be launched to promote Covid-19 preventive and health practices.
One more country to benefit from the project is Panama, where QRCS is supporting the Peruvian Red Cross with a $20,000 pickup truck to be used in the pandemic control operations.
In Venezuela, $20,000 worth of personal protective equipment would be supplied to the Venezuelan Red Cross.
The project is also under way in other places as follows:
* Kosovo: food baskets and hygiene kits for 271 families in 26 municipalities.
* Nepal: enhancement of Covid-19 preparedness and response measures in 21 districts.
* Sierra Leone: preventive supplies (jerrycans, waste containers, soaps, hand sanitisers and public hand washing tanks), public information materials and media information shows for the benefit of 103,311 people in Freetown, Bombali and Koinadugu, at a total cost of $20,000.