Pointe Noire (Congo Republic), 21 October 2020 – In the presence of the Vice-prefect of Hinda, Guy Edmond Loemba, of the General Secretary of the Hinda District, Regis Eleka Koutana, and of the Department Director for Primary, Secondary Education and Literacy in Kouilou, Pierre Kali-Bitchini, Eni Congo launched today, on the occasion of the start of the school year, an awareness campaign for Covid-19 prevention in the schools involved in the Integrated Project of the Hinda District. The campaign will take place in the 11 primary schools and 6 kindergartens built and/or restored by Eni Congo.
The campaign aims to promote containment measures for Covid-19 and will provide specific training to teachers, dispense face masks to pupils and teachers, and supply hand washing equipment as well as cleaning supplies for the hygiene and sanitation of indoor spaces. The schools involved in the campaign have over 3,400 pupils between 3 and 12 years of age, and are part of an integrated project developed by Eni Congo that comprises healthcare, access to drinking water by building wells, and economic diversification by promoting agriculture. The awareness campaign meets the Sustainable Development Goals 3 – access to health and 4 – quality education.
The campaign will also include 11 health centres, the CATREP agricultural training centre of M'boukou, and the water wells management committees. Moreover, Eni Congo has provided the Departmental Directorate of Health of Kouilou with an ambulance for logistic support and for transfer of suspected Covid-19 cases from Kouilou to Pointe-Noire hospitals.
This initiative is one among several already carried out or planned by Eni Congo in partnership with the Ministry of Health and People, and within the Association of Oil Operators of Congo (AOPC), in order to support citizens in the complex situation of the current coronavirus pandemic. Among these initiatives are included the renovation of reception facilities for Covid-19 patients in the Madeleine Mouissou centre and the Adolphe Sicé hospital, now equipped with respirator, and the awareness campaigns and supply of healthcare devices to the population.
In addition, in order to improve prevention and health protection of employees and their families, Eni Congo has set up a dedicated unit for screenings and diagnostic tests for Covid-19 in its medical and social centre.
