The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday announced partnership with the Ethiopian government to reactivate a toll-free COVID-19 call centre in the country’s conflict-affected Tigray region.
The centre, which was relaunched recently with an aim to expand the scope for COVID-19-related information, is expected to provide health information on a wide range of health issues ranging from COVID-19 to diseases such as malaria, measles, cholera and meningitis, the WHO announced in a statement.
The COVID-19 call centre discontinued its operations in November 2020 after a conflict broke out in the region.
Before the conflict, the call centre had been receiving an average of about 20,000 calls per week from individuals seeking COVID-19 related information, it was noted.
In January, the UN warned that the interruption of COVID-19 surveillance and control activities in the Tigray region could facilitate “massive community transmission.’’
“Such an interruption for over a month in the region, coupled with mass displacements and overcrowded conditions in displacement setting, is feared to have facilitated massive community transmission of the pandemic,’’ the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had said.
It noted that the hotline service is also expected to provide confidential counseling and referral service to victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
According to the WHO, the toll-free call centre will play a role in strengthening event-based surveillance through alerts received from callers.
Head of the Tigray Regional Health Bureau, Fasika Amdesilassie, said during the relaunching ceremony that the move is an important step in reaching the people of Tigray with accurate and timely information on health threats like COVID-19 and possible disease outbreaks.
Amdesilassie added that ethio-Telecom, Ethiopia’s state-owned telecom service provider, provided the necessary telephonic equipment free of charge, while communication materials and public service announcements had been developed with WHO support to reintroduce the service to the public and encourage uptake.
The WHO further reiterated its commitments to help promote and support monitoring and operation of the toll-free center. (Xinhua/NAN)
