THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
In the Spotlight
+++ Pandemic +++
Innovative and attractive concepts for testing and vaccination
Covid-19: How industry can powerfully contribute to healthcare by Kaan Savul, Head of International Cooperation and Global Affairs, Ecolog Deutschland, Düsseldorf
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o the many entrenched global inequalities – wealth distribution, education attainment, life expectancy and human rights – we can now add access to safe, effective vaccinations. In many developed countries, 80% or more of the adult population has now received two Covid-19 jabs, and health ministers are talking about booster programmes and making vaccines available to children. By comparison, in most parts of Africa, vaccination rates hover below 2%. This glaring statistic has prompted significant nervousness within the global community and the past few weeks and months have seen multiple headline-grabbing financial commitments from political leaders including the G7, alongside donations of industrial quantities of vaccines. Hot-off-the-press pledges to African countries have included 4.4 million doses from the US to Nigeria and Ethiopia, 817,000 doses to Kenya from the UK, 260,000 doses to Mozambique from China and many more.
Generating momentum for vaccination So why, with such an intense global effort, do vaccination rates in Africa remain so low? Numerous explanations have been suggested – public mistrust of governments and public health officials, a youthful population that doesn’t recognise the risk, anti-vaccination propaganda, and the fact that Covid-19 symptoms lack the graphic nature associated with other prevalent diseases on the continent. None of these challenges seem insurmountable and, at EcoCare, we are confident that vaccination rates will rapidly gather momentum once concerted efforts to reassure at-risk populations are underway. Many of the tools to raise take-up are self-evident, and simply require effective implementation through advocacy by trusted community and religious leaders, mandates by major employers, especially where staff operate in close proximity and healthcare professionals as early adopters. Alongside actions such as these, which create a positive backdrop for testing and vaccination programmes, one cannot underestimate the importance of the customer experience when they come forward to receive a jab. If this process is wrecked with bureaucracy, complexity and anxiety, then
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bad word-of-mouth will spread to family members and peer group. To this end, vaccinations programmes are no different from TripAdvisor: positive recommendations are essential to generate momentum and future customers! For this reason, it should be no surprise that our operating model for our African and other countries under development, testing and vaccination programmes are rooted in ‘delivering with integrity’. The goal is to make the process smooth and seamless for all who encounter it.
EcoCare’s bold vision Many of the vital operating principles have been enshrined in our EcoCare Pledge, and I will highlight four where we’ve managed to maximise customer attractiveness through innovation, technical excellence, and a bold vision. 1. Maximising customer attractiveness Our safety compliance is second to none, not least because we recognise that any safety breach would overnight undermine trust and confidence in the programme. Our containerised Biosafety Level-2 (BSL-2) laboratories are configured to be compliant with the diagnostic safety recommendations of the Robert Koch-Institut Berlin (RKI), and the special WHO and Centre for Disease Control (CDC) instructions for testing SARSCoV-Safety are also embedded throughout our physical and digital processes. 2. Robust infection protection In our vaccination and testing centres, protocols include robust infection protection, a designated chief emergency doctor on every shift, traceability logging, antigen tests offered where needed and mandatory training on hygiene, vaccine handling and patient processes. In our digital platform, we capture, document, protect, report and archive viral data throughout the vaccination process, embedding quality at every step.
