A 35 million euro grant from the European Union (EU) has strengthened COVID-19 response and saved lives in 6 countries in the WHO European Region.
Over the course of 1.5 years, the funds have helped deliver nearly 12 million units of personal protective equipment, such as medical masks, goggles and isolation gowns, and 4000 units of biomedical equipment, including oxygen concentrators and ventilators, to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
These efforts have improved infection prevention and control in 370 health facilities and supported the training of more than 6000 health-care and front-line professionals to respond to COVID-19.
This resource also helped improve the proportion of hospitalized patients who recovered from COVID-19, and reduced infection rates among health-care workers.
WHO also worked closely with ministries of health to train 900 laboratory staff across the 6 countries on infection prevention, biosafety and biosecurity, and the safe collection, transportation and processing of test samples.
In addition, 161 laboratories went through quality assurance checks for COVID-19 detection.
More than 6000 responders and health-care workers in all the 6 countries have been briefed on the latest guidance and trained in infection prevention, case investigation and best practices in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
With support from the EU-funded project, national health authorities conducted regular surveys to provide insight into public knowledge, risk perceptions, behaviours and trust towards COVID-19 measures. The results of these studies informed public health communications and guidance in the 6 countries.
In the Republic of Moldova, a 2-month information campaign to combat stigma associated with COVID-19 reached more than 1 million people.
In its second year, the EU-WHO initiative continues to play a pivotal role in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and in fostering longer-term resilience of the health sector in the Eastern Partnership region.
The project is part of broader EU-WHO/Europe collaboration in the 6 Eastern Partnership countries, building on synergies between the WHO European Programme of Work and the EU’s ‘Eastern Partnership beyond 2020: Reinforcing Resilience – an Eastern Partnership that delivers for all’.
Sources:
https://www.euro.who.int/en/countries/armenia/news/news/2021/10/eu-funded-project-bolsters-covid-19-response-in-eastern-partnership-countries;
https://www.euro.who.int/en/countries/republic-of-moldova/publications/eu-who-solidarity-for-health-initiative
Photo by: WHO/Europe
