Health Information Management Efficiency Enhancement Project in Paraguay (Phase II) – Teleconsultation.
Key point
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and taught proper handwashing techniques. These actions increased the ability of health workers to protect themselves and lowered the risk of infection for pregnant women and children during hospital check-ups or childbirths.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people's willingness to go to health facilities, so we added a patient care function in the HIS under the Health Information Management Efficiency Enhancement Project in Paraguay (Phase II), which was jointly implemented with Cathay General Hospital. The function allows health facilities in Paraguay to provide outpatient services remotely, which not only lowers the risk of healthcare-associated infections, but also allows patients that need to regularly refill their prescription, e.g., due to chronic disease, to normally obtain medications and meet their medical needs.
B e s i d e s s t re n g t h e n i n g t h e response ability of frontline health workers through public health and medicine related projects, volunteers o f t h e Ta i w a n I C D F O v e r s e a s Volunteers Program are also actively promoting epidemic prevention knowledge to the public. For example, Ya-Chen Lin, public health volunteer
in St. Kitts and Nevis, taught chronic disease patients how and when to wear masks while they sought medical advice at the clinic. While masks were still in severe shortage, Lin coordinated with the Taiwan Technical Mission to collect old clothes to make masks and donate them to local vulnerable groups and street vendors. She also held a workshop on fabric mask making at the Department of Agriculture of St.
Kitts and Nevis. Nutrition volunteer Zi-Xuan Lin, stationed in Palau, not only taught students how to wash their hands, but also prepared diet-related health education materials, helping locals improve their immunity through a healthy diet.
V u l n e r a b l e , l o w i n c o m e countries and countries currently in a humanitarian crisis are at even greater risk due to COVID-19.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) thus proposed the Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19 in March 2020, and called on international society to invest resources in response to the pandemic, in order to ensure that other humanitarian assistance actions can still be successfully carried out.
Aspect 2
Humanitarian assistance for vulnerable groups in Lebanon;
Improving infection prevention and control abilities in the Middle East
The TaiwanICDF showed the spirit of humanitarian assistance b y j o i n t l y i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e Provision of Assistance to the Most Vulnerable Persons Exposed to Protection-Related Threats as a Result of COVID-19 Pandemic and the Economic Crisis in Lebanon together with the Polish Center for International Aid. We aimed to help Syrian refugees, local households, and other vulnerable groups in Lebanon respond to the COVID-19 and economic crisis, as well as the damage caused by the massive Beirut explosion in August 2020. The project ensures the right to adequate housing of Syrian and Lebanese vulnerable households through cash for rent, distributing emergency cash assistance to vulnerable h o u s e h o l d s , a n d p r o v i d i n g supplies for infection prevention and control (IPC). In addition, it assists with the improvement of standard operating procedures of primary healthcare (PHC) facilities
The Provision of Assistance to the Most Vulnerable Persons Exposed to Protection-Related Threats as a Result of COVID-19 Pandemic and the Economic Crisis in Lebanon provides PPE to primary healthcare facilities to protect the safety of patients and health workers.
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for COVID-19 infection control, as well as furnishing such facilities with personal protective equipment (PPE).
W e a l s o f a c i l i t a t e d o n l i n e exchanges between a doctor at Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital and health workers in Lebanon, s h a r i n g Ta i w a n ' s e p i d e m i c prevention experience to strengthen our bond with partner countries.
Aspect 3
Utilizing project resources to help produce simple anti-epidemic products and donating supplies to assist with epidemic prevention in schools
According to estimates of the International Labour Organization (ILO), COVID-19 has caused the loss of approximately 500 million full-time jobs so far, and statistics of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) show that over 1.6 billion students in over 190 countries were forced to suspend their studies. The spread of COVID-19 has impacted the livelihood of people from all walks of life, caused students to lose education opportunities, and directly or indirectly impacted the long-term development of human capital in countries. Keeping schools open and maintaining normal operations a t t h e w o r k p l a c e d u r i n g t h e pandemic has become a complex issue for governments around the world.
Ta i w a n Te c h n i c a l M i s s i o n s utilized project resources to help produce simple anti-epidemic products in response to the threat of the pandemic, strengthening the
capabilities of the country they are stationed in, and raising the health awareness of teachers and students in schools through education. We donated a variety of supplies to help schools with epidemic prevention, and built a positive image in the hearts of local governments and people, showing the world that
"Taiwan Can Help."
Aspect 4
Providing governments of allied countries with financial support, improving relevant policies and regulations, and strengthening cross-departmental coordination
Developing countries need to strengthen interdepartmental coordination ability, preparedness f o r e m e r g e n c y p u b l i c h e a l t h incidents, and regulations and measures for border control. These contribute to early discover y and timely control of COVID-19 outbreaks.
Hence, we worked together with CABEI to provide governments of allied countries in Central America with financial support, helping the governments perfect relevant policies and regulations in accordance with the COVID-19 S t r a t e g i c P r e p a r e d n e s s a n d R e s p o n s e P l a n a n d r e l a t e d guidelines issued by the World H e a l t h O r g a n i z a t i o n ( W H O ) . This includes establishing early detection, monitoring, and response m e c h a n i s m s ; s t r e n g t h e n i n g border quarantine measures; and improving national-level coordination mechanisms and establishing a sub-national operational plan, in order to hone the preparedness
and response ability of local units with regard to emergency health incidents, such as COVID-19 and natural disasters.
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