In late February 2020, MSF Southern Africa set up a COVID-19 Crisis Fund to enable a direct response to the COVID-19 emergency and its consequences on our current projects in South Africa and abroad. With the support of our donors, we were able to deploy field hospitals in Khayelitsha, organise screening programmes within homeless communities around Johannesburg and Pretoria, and support hospitals in Kwa Zulu natal

As the nature of the emergency has changed, we are no longer fundraising for this emergency. 

By contributing to our COVID-19 Crisis Fund you will ensure that:

• we are able to provide health awareness messages to communities around the world to dispel myths about COVID-19 and promote healthy behaviour.
• in all of our projects, our fieldworkers receive the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for their safety and for the safety of our patients.
• our teams are equipped to support people who seek help at our projects because of COVID-19.
• medical training is provided for people who are involved in the COVID-19 response.
• we are able to participate in the national responses led by the WHO (World Health Organisation) and the Ministries of Health where MSF operates around the world.

Around the globe, our medical teams are preparing for potential cases of COVID-19 in our projects. In some areas, such as the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Bangladesh and Yemen, where fragile or war-torn health systems are already struggling to meet the health needs of the population, it is necessary to protect healthcare personnel from getting infected and to limit the risks of spreading the epidemic as much as possible. This is done by implementing prevention programmes such as health awareness and information activities, infection control, distributing soap, and supplying protective equipment for healthcare personnel.

In countries where health systems are more robust but where the epidemic is particularly widespread, such as in Europe, the main challenge is to avoid overloading hospital care capacities. In Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, MSF is contributing to the efforts of national medical teams by making MSF staff available to support or relieve them when needed. We are sharing our experiences in triage and control procedures for infections acquired during epidemics.