COVID-19 Management and Psychosocial Training to FAIRMED and its PNGO team

The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has caused a severe effect in Nepal. While serving the communities through COVID response, our field-based staff members felt a gap in terms of their knowledge and basic skills to address some common problems faced by those infected by the coronavirus, individuals affected directly and indirectly, and health workers who manage positive cases or contacts.

FAIRMED in collaboration with Nepal Medical Association (NMA) developed a training package with the objectives to first impart basic knowledge about COVID-19 and its variants in addition to providing information about counselling to patients and affected families. Secondly, the training aimed to break common myths, rumours, and stigma associated with the disease and be aware of the frequently asked questions associated with COVID-19.

A virtual training was conducted from June 1 to June 4 and targeted to train the staff of FAIRMED Nepal and its partner NGOs.

FAIRMED would like to acknowledge the contributions of key persons involved in the training programme – Facilitator Dr. Sushil Koirala, NMA President Dr. Lochan Karki, NMA General Secretary Dr. Badri Rijal, and all the trainers including Dr. Saroj Prasad Ojha, Dr. Suraj Shakya, Dr. Pratik Lama, Dr. Kamal Raj Thapa and the entire NMA team. With the valuable information imparted by the experts on various aspects of the coronavirus infection, the team was able to improve their understanding of COVID-19 and ways to protect oneself from its physical and psychological manifestations.

Mani Bhadra Sharma, Chairperson, BYC Baglung: “The training was very useful in having a better understanding of COVID.”

Ramendra Singh Rawal, KSSC Kapilvastu: “Mental health has always been a neglected aspect but this training has raised its importance and has given us the responsibility to contribute from our side.”