ITALY
INTERSOS INTERVENTION
In Rome, 2 medical units composed of two doctors, three cultural mediators and a logistician, deal with medical visits and prevention for homeless people near Termini Station and Tiburtina Station, and in various informal settlements in the capital. Our operators also deal with preliminary medical screenings at the reception center for homeless people in vulnerable conditions opened by the Municipality of Rome. In Foggia, in the areas of Borgo Mezzanone, Borgo Tre Titoli, Palmori, Poggio Imperiale, Contrada San Matteo, Gran Ghetto, Borgo Cicerone and ex Fabbrica Daunialat, another mobile unit consisting of a doctor and two cultural mediators ensures prevention and medical visits to the thounsands of agricultural laborers who live in the so-called ‘ghettos’, without access to water and in conditions of extreme exclusion. INTERSOS, together with other organizations, is fighting to ask for rights and protection for every agricultural worker in conditions of vulnerability, access to water and basic services. In Crotone, with two doctors and 3 cultural mediators, a mobile unit is active to help the most vulnerable people in the areas of Crotone, Sibari and Rossano. Another team consisting of a doctor, two cultural mediators and a psycho-social worker, on board a mobile clinic, has been active in the slum of Cassibile since June to inform homeless migrants about the risks related to contagion and prevention rules of COVID-19.
HIGHLIGHTS
1.043
people reached by risk communication and COVID-19 prevention health sessions in Rome
965
medical examinations conducted to identify any contagions from COVID-19 in Rome
4.597
participants in training sessions on coronavirus risks and prevention in Foggia
CONTEXT
Italy is one of the most affected countries by the pandemic. In the context of emergency, an important part of the population has remained excluded from the health system. In Italy there are over 50,000 people living on the street, in extremely precarious conditions. Homeless people, who live in promiscuity situations, with poor access to personal hygiene measures, are more exposed to the risk of contagion from COVID-19 and this represents a danger not only for their health but also for that of all the people they come in contact with. With the epidemic wave that hit Italy, the INTERSOS Teams have rapidly strengthened and specialized the activities underway on the national territory in order to give an effective response to the increased health needs, protecting not only the individual health of the most fragile population, but also the collective one, in order to help reduce the epidemic outbreak.