Dimapur, Dec. 5 (EMN): Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA), in collaboration with Sphere India, has launched the Covid-19 Academy Nagaland. The Covid-19 Academy Nagaland is a joint initiative of Sphere India and NSDMA under the state Home department with support from WHO, UNICEF, WFP and HCL Foundation.
The Covid-19 Academy Nagaland aims to provide a collective platform for frontline volunteers, FBO, NGOs, CSO and other technical experts in their respective field for a resilient preparedness and response to Covid-19 related disasters through a series of online training which would commence from December 7 to the 11th covering topics such as “Basic Science and stigma of Covid-19,” “Disability inclusive Covid-19 pandemic response,” “Basic care and management of Covid-19 patient,” “Mental health and psychosocial issues of Covid-19” and “Covid-19 and genetic variants”.
Speaking at the launching programme, advisor of NSDMA Kazheto Kinimi informed that the Covid-19 Academy Nagaland has lined up powerful sessions through which all would be better equipped with proper guidance and training in order to look after the patients in a more efficient way.
Delivering the keynote address, NDMA member Kamal Kishore has urged to imbibe the lessons from Covid-19 and also find various ways to strengthen the public health infrastructure as well as allied services such as nutritional services.
“We need to see what are the lessons we can adopt for us to be prepared for the future,” an update from personal secretary to the advisor has quoted Kishore as saying.
On the occasion, the principal secretary Abhijit Sinha also outlined the state’s changing strategy ‘as learning from experience’ in dealing with the pandemic since its onset in the state in March 2020. He also emphasised on the need to cope with the pandemic without compromising economic development. He has also lauded the joint initiative of NSDMA and Sphere India.
Speaking on behalf of the Health and Family Welfare department, the state nodal officer Dr. Nyanthung Kikon outlined the experience of Nagaland in dealing with the pandemic- the initial responses and the challenges. He also expressed willingness of the department to support Sphere India in providing a platform to address common issues, capacity building to frontline workers and community.
Director of CIHSR Dr. Sedevi Angami shared his thoughts on the new normal and the medical aspect of the pandemic. In this regard, he emphasised on the importance of identifying the right allocation of resources and co-ordinating them effectively. He has suggested imparting training to media personnel to dissemination proper information.
He also suggested introducing disaster management curriculum in schools and a continuous engagement of community for strengthening DDR.
CEO of Sphere India Vikrant Mahajan said, “Covid-19 Academy has been an experience that started as a collaboration with many organisations and in a period of time it has reached many people and has been instrumental to build capacities of frontline workers, volunteers and others since its launching.” He added that Nagaland Covid-19 Academy would emphasise on reaching out to the people in containment of the Covid-19.
Dr. Subhajit Battacharjee, WHO NE sub-regional team lead, has advocated sound emergency and disaster risk management system for sustainable development, building resilience of communities and comprehensive risk management with a comprehensive approach, inter-sectoral collaboration, community participation and strengthening of healthcare system.
UNICEF health specialist Dr. Maulik Shah stated that the organisation has been closely working with Nagaland and would continue to support in any initiative.
The launching ceremony was moderated by Johnny Ruangmei, OSD to the government of Nagaland.
