Nowadays, People living in conflict areas and facing disruptions in safe water and sanitation services are at risk of waterborne and vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, and cholera. People living in camp settings and areas hosting large numbers of displaced persons are especially at risk. Therefore, the Vanuatu Red Cross Society (VRCS) is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Provincial Health to implement the health activities across Vanuatu through an awareness to build the knowledge and capacity of the people to well-prepared themselves for an Epidemic and other health crisis.
The goal of the awareness is to protect and improve the health of the people and their communities as well as to prepare to prevent fatalities and injuries. The objectives of this awareness are to ensure participants understand: The basic of epidemics and why they occur, Concepts of risk and why they occur, the role of volunteers in Epidemics and how to stay safe, to strengthen the youth volunteers’ network and continually increase youth engagement within Vanuatu Red Cross Society and Increase knowledge of youth volunteers to teach and conduct Hygiene Promotion to help improve hygiene facilities and practices in the communities.
The aim and scope of the awareness are;
To promote personal hygiene, that is, build a hand washing station, etc,
How to anticipate the health impacts of different disasters,
Prevent the situation from worsening,
Promote recovery,
Taking immediate action when there is an emergency.
This Public Health in Emergency (PHiE) is facilitated by Denny Manvoi - VRCS Health Assistant Officer and Marie Harry Malampa - Red Cross Branch Officer facilitated the community awareness i.e., Epidemic Control for Volunteers (ECV) Awareness.