GRAND PRAIRIE (WBAP/KLIF)- World Vision, a humanitarian aid organization is helping with the Coronavirus locally, nationally and globally.
Roberta Taylor says one of their national warehouses is in Grand Prairie and they have extra gloves, masks and gowns to send to hospitals in Dallas, other impacted states and a total of 17 countries. It’s the first time the agency launched a response of this scale.
“The supplies that we have are definitely readily available and we just want to be able to help those that are most vulnerable to be able to help those hospitals to continue to treat the people in their communities,” said Taylor.
In January, World Vision began distributing protection equipment and supplies in Asia, where the virus outbreak was first recorded. Teams on the ground are supporting vulnerable communities by promoting prevention behaviors, offering essential health advice and psychosocial support, and engaging government health authorities.
Further action is now underway in some of the world’s most fragile contexts including, Afghanistan, DR Congo, Iraq, Haiti and Syria. World Vision is warning that the impact coronavirus will have on these countries is likely to be far greater than what we have seen to date in more medically-advanced countries, both directly through COVID-19 deaths, and indirectly through the reduction of life-saving child health services as countries focus on this new disease.
With new cases of the global pandemic increasing daily, World Vision experts highlight that coronavirus will have a huge impact on the poorest and most vulnerable and poses a major risk to the efforts and progress made to fight poverty and hunger. World Vision is urging governments to support a united global effort to protect the most vulnerable by rallying support particularly for those who host refugees and displaced children.
“We will continue to respond in every country where we work, with a particular focus on at-risk areas by collaborating with local authorities, hospitals, academic institutions and NGOs to prevent the spread of the virus, and to lessen its effect on the most vulnerable,” said World Vision International’s Global Director of Humanitarian Operations, Isabel Gomes. “With extensive experience in responding to disease outbreaks, including polio, Zika and Ebola, we are focusing on preventing transmission, supporting health responses and caring for children made vulnerable by this crisis.”
You can support World Vision’s response to COVID-19 HERE.
