MALI – The African Development Bank and the United Nations Agency for Refugees in Mali (UNHCR) have handed over three medical ambulances and several equipment to the government of Mali to help it cope with the Covid-19 pandemic raging in the country since March 2020.
The donation, worth nearly two million units of account (US$ 2.85 million) received by the Minister of Public Health of Mali, Dr Diéminatou Sangaré, also includes medical equipment, drugs, reagents and laboratory equipment.
This donation, which is part of the implementation of the Support Project for G5 Sahel member countries in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, is intended for the Mali Ministry of Public Health.
The project, coordinated by the executive secretariat of the G5 Sahel, is financed by the African Development Bank for more than twenty million US dollars and implemented by the UNHCR in collaboration with the governments of the five member countries of the G5 Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad).
This funding is intended to strengthen the response capacity of the G5 Sahel countries and to modernize their epidemiological surveillance systems.
The project also supports the deployment of national social protection measures for the benefit of internally displaced persons, refugees and their host communities. It also helps support food and nutrition systems.
With regard to international purchases of medical items, thirty-two items have already been received by Mali. The country has also submitted a plan for the acquisition of hydraulic equipment and the construction of semi-durable latrines (instead of prefabricated latrines) which meet the national strategy and community habits.
The construction of latrines will be accompanied by awareness campaigns on hygiene, in particular on hand washing.
Likewise, by the end of August, four intensive and specific training sessions are planned for the benefit of health workers on epidemiological surveillance, the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and mental and psychosocial health care patients and those around them.
An agreement between the UNHCR and the national directorate of social development of the Ministry of Public Health of Mali should soon be finalized to allow the start of these trainings.
The African Development Bank Group also granted the G5 Sahel a grant of approximately US$1.4 million from its Transition Support Facility to strengthen the execution and coordination capacities of its executive secretariat.
This funding will also make it possible to organize training on biosafety and the management of biomedical waste in the five member countries of the sub-regional institution.
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