Public sensitised on ways to stop spread of Covid-19 |21 September 2020
The health team at Perseverance
To commemorate World Patient Safety Day this year, staff of the health department and volunteers took to the roads and pavements on Saturday morning to sensitise members of the public on ways to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
From 9am onwards, the teams were engaging in one to one interactions with commuters at numerous stations on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.
The stations were in Grand Anse Mahé, Beau Vallon’s golden mile, Anse Royale, Anse Aux Pins bus station, Cascade market, Perseverance, Anse Etoile, St Louis, Bel Air, Praslin jetty and La Digue jetty.
Members of the public were informed on public health measures such as maintaining physical distance of at least 1 metre, avoiding crowds and wearing of face masks which have become mandatory in public places.
In their hard-to-miss yellow ‘gard ou zistans’ t-shirts, the teams were also giving out informative leaflets and face masks as well as taking on the public’s opinions and challenges when it comes to the safety regulations in place to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission.
Seychelles NATION encountered the Perseverance group that had been sensitising the public since before 9am.
“We have been on the field since 8.30am and now with the sun bright and hot, it’s good that we started earlier,” said Josette Souffe, a nurse and midwife.
“People have not come to us much but instead we have had to go to them. We had some questionnaires for them, in order to find out how much they really know about Covid-19. It was a mixed result; there were some people who knew their stuff really well but some not so much.”
Seychelles NATION also met up with the Beau Vallon team who were targeting the beach goers.
World Patient Safety Day is observed annually on September 17 since it was established by the 72nd World Health Assembly, in May 2019, with the adoption of resolution WHA72.6 on ‘Global action on patient safety’.
The overall objectives of World Patient Safety Day are to enhance global understanding of patient safety, increase public engagement in the safety of health care and promote global actions to enhance patient safety and reduce patient harm. The origin of the day is firmly grounded in the fundamental principle of medicine – First, do no harm.
The Covid-19 pandemic is presently among the biggest challenges and threats to face the world and humanity, and health care is living its greatest crisis in patient safety ever.
The pandemic has exerted unprecedented pressure on health systems worldwide. Health systems can only function with health workers, and a knowledgeable, skilled and motivated health workforce is critical for the provision of safe care to patients.
Over 30 million people have been infected with the Covid-19 worldwide.
Elsie Pointe
