Ensuring the Adequate Medical Care for the People in Djibouti with the Support of EU

The health care system in Djibouti benefited significantly from the support of the European Union funded EU-IGAD Covid19 Response Programme. Through the provision of immediate support in personal protective equipment (PPE) along with different medical equipment and vehicles, this support reached 212,383 people throughout the country, enabling them to improve the prevention and treatment of the COVID-19 from 2020 until 2023.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Djibouti was reported on 14 March 2020. The EU promptly mobilised their support mechanisms to support the seven countries in east Africa and partnered with UNOPS to deliver the immediate support. The established Programme was structured to mitigate the health and socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the IGAD region through coordinated, comprehensive actions in 45 cross-border sites. According to the World Health Organisation data, until November 2023, the total number of cases had grown to 15,675 with 189 cumulative deaths recorded.

The project team from the Ministry of Health of Djibouti consisted of the General Secretary of the Ministry Dr Salah Banoita Tourab, the Technical Adviser Mr Nouh Said and the National Coordinator for Covid-19 Vaccination Program Dr Omar Ismael expresses the gratitude for the received support.

Different departments of the Ministry of Health of Djibouti benefited from the EU-IGAD COVID19 Response project, and it is difficult to name a single supported sector. However, the country's public laboratory services and hospital emergency departments have been the best supported in their activities, including in terms of training medical teams, which are highly thankful - the Ministry of Health team emphasises.

In Djibouti, the programme delivered 61 activities in the area of health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), gender based violence (GBV), risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) and safe trade implemented by UNOPS, UNICEF, IMO and TradeMark Africa (TMA). All these activities were pointed towards the mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic, while strengthening the health care system of the country and the capacities of the Ministry of Health in the long term.

The most important Programme support for Djibouti was the provision of logistical resources for the Ministry of Health, but also the Ministry of Agriculture. We received three ambulances for the health centers of the three border sites of the country, making it possible to strengthen the logistics of the health regions for the evacuations of patients, and in particular, cases of patients suffering from COVID19. Also, the provision of the mobile laboratory truck now facilitates screening activities in rural areas by moving laboratory technicians, where there is no access to health infrastructure.

The team of the Ministry also pinpoints the provision of robust vehicles, for advanced prevention strategies, for health teams in the regions of Obock and Tadjourah, together with the provision of a tanker truck to distribute water to vulnerable rural populations in Tadjourah.

Furthermore, a particular effort was made by this project in the decentralization of screening and management of Covid-19 cases in two regions of the country. Through the provision of automated laboratory equipment, this brought benefits to the Tadjourah Hospital and the Absieh regional hospital in Ali-Sabieh - the MoH team states.

Programme also delivered over 1.7 million personal protective equipment, together with 52,681 COVID-19 test kits. One of the most important activities was the vaccination of 20,025 truck drivers, who often commute between the neighboring countries, thus being exposed to the risk of contracting the virus. The vaccination teams of the Ministry of Health of Djibouti played a major role in delivering the vaccine doses necessary for vaccination operations, which were drawn from the national stock.

Organisation of the campaign for vaccination against COVID-19 for the benefit of Ethiopian truck drivers was successfully carried out in partnership of the ministries of health of Djibouti and the Federal Republic of Ethiopia with the backing from IGAD, logistical support of TradeMark and coordination and communications activities of UNOPS. This is a concrete example of a cross-border health program, response to a global pandemic, through vaccination among a mobile group, Ethiopian truckers, traveling along the Addis Ababa road corridor towards Djibouti - the MoH team concludes.

 This project also contributed to ensuring WASH activities, with UNICEF, through the rehabilitation of water points and boreholes in the northern regions of the country in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Water, as well as AEP networks.

For more information, please refer to the Programme website: www.euigadcovid19response.com