Mozambique: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies calls for rapid response to disease

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Mozambique: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies calls for rapid response to disease

1:34 CAT | 29 Mar 2019

Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), El Hadji As Sy, has said that the community must act swiftly to help Mozambique, especially since cholera cases have been identified.

“We know how to treat it, we know how to prevent it – it’s about using the resources that are available,” El Hadji As Sy told reporters at the end of a meeting with the president of the Red Cross of Cape Verde (CVCV).

El Hadji As Sy was in Mozambique last week monitoring humanitarian interventions in support of flood victims following the descent of Cyclone Idai upon the central region of the country, killing at least 468.

“Much of the national territory has been flooded and more than one million people have been affected,” he said, adding that the situation obliged the world to mobilize and help the people affected by the cyclone.

Water-borne diseases

The first concern was health, and particularly water-borne diseases.

“On Wednesday, I was informed that five cases of cholera have been confirmed. We have to act very quickly,” he said.

El Hadji As Sy stressed the importance of sending medical teams into the field and extolling the attitude of a small country like Cape Verde, which was nevertheless mounting a solidarity campaign and finalizing preparations for sending a team of a dozen health professionals.

Cape Verde is part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (FICV) and had has always fulfilled its obligations in this regard, he said. “Cape Verde’s support for Mozambique is an expression of the CVCV’s integration within the IFRC.”

Fundraising

Currently, the CVCV is raising funds, which, according to the president of the Cape Verdean institution, is “going well”.

“The campaign was welcomed by Cape Verdeans, both in donations and as a manifestation of their feelings. The bills are already open and the movements are circulating,” Arlindo de Carvalho said.

In addition to collecting funds, a medical team is finalizing preparations and should be able to begin work by the end of the week. “The international team that is in the field is composed of elements of the United Nations and the International Federation of the Cross Red and Red Crescent,” de Carvalho explained.

For now, the team will be composed of six physicians and six nurses.

“It is a symbolic gesture on the part of Cape Verde, because our national health service does not permit the sending of more personnel,” he said, adding that “our armed forces are also trying to send a team to assist in rescue operations”.

Source: DW