Sopra Steria Benelux employees are committed to fighting COVID-19 led by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/AZG) throughout Europe.
During a flash fund-raising event held from 20 to 24 April 2020, our teams mobilised and raised no less than €20,000, all of which was donated to MSF/AZG for its fight against COVID in Europe.
The MSF/AZG teams have years of experience in the treatment and control of infectious diseases. As an emergency medical organisation, the NGO is now offering medical assistance during the corona crisis in Europe. Special Emergency Response Teams with extensive experience in the fight against infectious diseases such as Ebola have been established in each of our countries. Their aim is to support our health systems and help prevent overcrowding.
The following video provides more information about MSF'AZG's Covid-19 interventions around the world.
Notably in Belgium, MSF/AZG teams are already in action in 3 important areas.
- Bringing MSF’s outbreak response expertise to hospitals: “Hospitals don’t need MSF/AZG to provide quality care,” says Meinie Nicolai, MSF/AZG’s general director. “But what we do bring is our expertise – developed responding to cholera, Ebola and plague – on how to organise a hospital and how to organise the flow of patients to prevent further infections, so that people can be treated in the best possible conditions.”
- Care for the elderly: Many medical staff are so overloaded with work that they cannot cope with the demand to visit care homes. In response to this gap, MSF/AZG is sending mobile teams of nurses and health promotion professionals to visit more than 150 care homes. During their visits, the teams check if any residents are infected with the virus, organise the best way to isolate them from other residents, and arrange for the best possible medical care in the absence of regular visits by doctors.
Supporting the most vulnerable communities: Unfortunately, many people live on the streets – a situation made worse by the closure, due to COVID-19, of a number of centres for homeless people and undocumented migrants. Ordinarily, people with symptoms are recommended to self-isolate at home, which is obviously impossible for people who have no home to go to. In response, MSF/AZG has opened a centre where rough sleepers who have tested positive for COVID-19 can stay and receive medical care, and from where they can be referred to hospital if their symptoms worsen. The 50-bed centre can be extendable to 150 beds if needed.