July 14th, 2020
Talking with Nurse Jeanny Caren Zapeta Rén in Sacbichol, GuatemalaRecognizing TulaHealth's ongoing leadership and innovation in Guatemala, our partners at Global Affairs Canada (GAC) have decided to contribute an additional $1.65M to support TulaHealth's continued efforts responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala. Since February, we have worked alongside the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Guatemala to enhance our digital health system - which already connects more than 4,300 public health workers via a smartphone network - to respond to the COVID-19-related needs of frontline health workers in vulnerable communities. This work has already resulted in a series of 'microtraining' courses on COVID-19 prevention, treatment, and management and sexual and reproductive health services, delivered directly to more than 5,000 health workers using the digital messaging platform WhatsApp, and improved communication and monitoring capabilities of suspected COVID-19 cases.
We will continue to work with the MOH to 1) Strengthen ‘real-time’ surveillance of COVID-19; 2) Deliver distance education training for frontline health personnel, respecting social distancing measures; 3) Reinforce communication and dissemination of important prevention information; and, 4) Support access to essential personnel protective equipment (PPE) for frontline health workers.