BRAC has undertaken an initiative to provide Covid-19 related services to people in 35 high-risk districts from distributing masks to encouraging them to take vaccines.
It is for the first time in Bangladesh that any civil society partnership will provide Covid-19 services with such a wide coverage. Free distribution of 13 million masks in these districts is underway as the first step to this initiative.
The other approaches include spreading information and motivation about hand-washing with soap and water, maintaining coughing etiquettes and social distancing and vaccine registration. Measures will also be taken to address misinformation and rumours around Covid-19.
BRAC Executive Director Asif Saleh made the announcement at a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
He said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is actively supporting the identification of priority areas for this campaign.
Global Affairs Canada and BRAC are the primary contributors to this initiative, being supported by a consortium of donors and partners including the Australian government.
With a community-driven Covid-19 response and local-level health system strengthening approach, BRAC is partnering with the DGHS, recently formed platform Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Alliance, and United Nations agencies to implement this initiative.
A total of 41 local NGOs in the identified districts will act as the implementing partners.
BRAC is going to deploy 27,500 community health workers in the selected 35 districts under this effort which will put maximum emphasis on the proper use of masks to ward off the transmission.
The high-risk districts are Mymensingh, Sherpur, Kishoreganj, Tangail, Jamalpur, Gazipur, Narayangonj, Dhaka, Jhenaiadah, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Jashore, Chuadanga, Narail, Khulna, Magura, Brahmanbaria, Cumilla, Habiganj, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Bogura, Joypurhat, Natore, Bhola, Barishal, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Cox's Bazar, Chattogram, Feni, Noakhali, and Chandpur.
BRAC said it also plans to scale up the initiative across Bangladesh if the situation demands so.
Moderated by BRAC’s senior director KAM Morshed, the virtual press conference was also attended by Mushfiq Mobarak, professor of economics at Yale University, and Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation.
Dr Morseda Chowdhury, director of BRAC’s health, nutrition and population programme highlighted core components of the initiative in the press conference.
With the rise in the number of Covid cases and rate of deaths, besides the centrally run initiatives in Bangladesh, scaled-up community-level prevention efforts have become imperative at this moment.
While the health facilities are struggling to provide essential treatment and care to the patients, many people at the community level are negligent in abiding by the preventive measures and hygiene rules.
A scaled up community-driven approach can only address the situation at present as observed by health and behaviour change experts.
Earlier, BRAC in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the Government of UK and under a joint initiative with the DGHS and Community Clinic Trust, piloted a community-driven Covid response and health system strengthening initiative in six districts over the past five months. The success of the pilot has resulted in the initiative for the 35 high-risk districts identified by the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
The initiative with three key pillars of interventions - prevention, response to Covid case management, and promotion of vaccination - is expected to slow down the spread of Covid-19, help flatten the curve and preserve health system capacity in these districts.
