We innovate responsibly, outside the office too

AGE web solutions has decided to donate the sums normally spent on Christmas gifts for its customers and its people to humanitarian projects run by AMREF.

We decided to support AMREF Health Africa (opens in a new tab), a non-profit, independent, non-partisan and non-denominational organisation engaged in development cooperation activities dedicated to promoting the right to health of Africa and Africans.

The contribution offered by AGE web solutions was used to support training for 22 health workers in Africa on COVID-19 vaccination (in synergy with the Ministry of Health).

Covid, vaccines and poverty: the alarm from Africa

Across the whole continent, the virus is more frightening today than at the start of the pandemic, because it is rapidly reaching rural areas, which are less well equipped and therefore more in need of support.

In Africa, COVID-19 finds a great ally in poverty: existing infrastructure shortcomings, limited skills and great distances make it difficult to plan the vaccination campaign, from reaching communities to maintaining the cold chain. But the biggest obstacle is the lack of the funds needed to buy vaccines from the pharmaceutical manufacturers, none of which is present on African soil.

To reach the goal of vaccinating at least 60% of the population (around 780 million Africans), Africa will need around 1.5 billion vaccine doses which, according to current estimates, could cost between 8 billion and 16 billion dollars, with additional costs of 20-30% for the vaccine distribution programme.

AMREF and the response to COVID-19

In response to the health emergency, AMREF Health Africa acted promptly and on several levels. On the ground, in the many countries where AMREF operates, it reached over one million people, bringing care and information. It also trained more than 100,000 doctors, nurses and health workers in COVID-19 prevention and management measures and provided personal protective equipment. Finally, AMREF equipped its Flying Doctors – the doctors who serve on small aeroplanes, essential for reaching remote areas – with capsules for transferring the most serious COVID patients.

The response was fast and effective thanks to an in-depth knowledge of the area, synergy with local communities and institutions, and long-standing experience.

Ahead of the launch of a massive vaccination campaign on the African continent, to date AMREF:

• Has trained thousands of health workers, especially community health workers, in the correct administration of the vaccine.
• Has set up new vaccination centres where necessary, in constant collaboration with national governments; these are important for avoiding crowding and the resulting infections and for preventing the interruption of other health services.
• Has prepared missions with mobile clinics, ready to set off and reach even the communities in the most remote areas.
• Is carrying out important awareness-raising activities to overcome vaccine hesitancy among communities.
• Is organising services to accompany people to vaccination centres, to overcome the barrier of distance as well.

AMREF’s goals

The mission of the AMREF Health Africa vaccination programme is to stop COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in Africa, as well as its indirect consequences, by ensuring that everyone is guaranteed access to the Coronavirus vaccine and that no woman or man is left behind.

To achieve an effective and efficient mass distribution of the vaccine, the whole spectrum of the programme needs to be supported, starting with production.

What AMREF Health Africa is doing:

• It supports the management of the cold chain, that is, how to transport temperature-sensitive vaccines to places without electricity and reliable refrigeration. Strengthening the cold chain - a network of vehicles, refrigerators and cold rooms that allows the vaccine to be transported from the manufacturer to the point of immunisation - is essential for countries preparing to receive the vaccine, particularly the Pfizer vaccine, which must be kept at -75° C.
• It supports the planning of in-country vaccine distribution, ordering and supply monitoring in health facilities. The African Union has secured 270 million vaccine doses to be distributed across the continent, in addition to those pledged by the global COVAX vaccination programme, but these fall short of the region’s demand.
• It runs training on COVID-19 vaccination for doctors and nurses.
• It supports governments in integrating COVID-19 vaccination services into health facilities, taking care to disrupt routine activities as little as possible. Mass vaccination may enable health workers to separate vaccination centres from existing health facilities: these centres will help avoid crowding in health facilities and ensure that other health services are not interrupted.
• It develops and spreads accurate messages about the vaccine, using e-mails, information posters and other channels. Health workers must be able to find information easily about vaccines and how they are developed and monitored for safety, because creating mass demand for the vaccine first requires building patients’ trust in vaccines, and achieving that trust means involving healthcare staff.
• It runs community projects to mobilise communities for vaccination by involving volunteers, local health offices and health workers.

We are happy to share with you an initiative we have undertaken in collaboration with 3Bee: instead of traditional corporate gifts, we have chosen to adopt a beehive in the name of our customers. This is our way of involving them in our commitment to the environment and of helping to protect bees and the ecosystem.

We are very proud of our choice. Our customers will be able to follow closely the beehive adopted in their name and enjoy watching the bees busy with their daily work producing high-quality honey.

The honey collected from this special hive will be packed in a personalised parcel and shipped directly to their homes: half a kilo of pure honey, a quantity that respects the work of the adopted bees. Every hive is looked after and managed exclusively with sustainable methods, using technologies that cause the beekeeper and the bees as little stress as possible.

With this initiative we want to show our commitment to environmental sustainability, the promotion of biodiversity and the protection of ecosystems: a concrete action to preserve nature. Because we have always been convinced that technology and nature are not opposites, but can and must join forces to make a difference for bees, biodiversity and the planet.

We are grateful to our customers for giving us this opportunity. Together, we are showing our commitment to nature and contributing to a sustainable future.

AGE web solutions’ biodiversity oasis (3bee.com) (opens in a new tab)