Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ulster nurse fighting virus in world’s largest refugee settlement
Rachel joins medics in India to treat patients with Covid-19
A BELFAST nurse has joined medics in Bangladesh to open a treatment centre providing lifesaving care for refugees suffering from suspected Covid-19.
Rachel Fletcher travelled with fellow London nurse Rachel Cummings, to India with Save The Children’s Emergency Health Unit.
The team of international specialists respond to deadly disease outbreaks across the globe including Ebola, Yellow Fever and Cholera.
They have been working for months with local staff and volunteers on the ground to build the centre, securing personal protective equipment and training staff to receive patients in the facility.
Cox’s Bazar is the largest refugee settlement in the world, housing nearly one million Rohingya refugees who fled brutal violence in Myanmar.
Families live in overcrowded conditions, making social distancing nearly impossible.
There are only 18 ICU beds in the entire district to serve a population of more than three million people, including Rohingya refugees in the camps.
Rachel is supporting the Disasters Emergency Committee Coronavirus Appeal which was launched on Tuesday and has raised £5million.
It brings together 14 of the UK’S largest charities to respond to international crises quickly and it will raise money for the world’s most fragile states and the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, where Rachel is working.
The NHS Nurse trained in Northern Ireland and worked in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
In 2014 she spent almost a year fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and more recently was deployed to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
Rachel will manage the facility in Cox’s Bazar, working with local staff.
TOUGH
She said: “It’s been a race against time to get the centre ready. Conditions are tough.
“We’re here to support local health teams and walk with them on this difficult journey, particularly when faced with the impossible decision of who gets a hospital bed and who doesn’t when resources are stretched.”
A recent report found 40% of children living in the camps