14 February
Responding to Covid-19 in the Middle East
Using funding from the European Union, the Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance (MECIDS), facilitated by Search for Common Ground, was able to rapidly respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, improving individual and institutional cooperation among the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian public health sectors. This work, described in an online report in more detail, included:
- 12 virtual lectures, seminars, and awareness sessions
- Common Ground Training (CGT) of 24 laboratory technicians and infectious disease researchers in non-adversarial communication, active listening and empathy.
- Ten emergency virtual meetings which allowed participants to improve their country’s response through the exchange of data and information
- MECIDS custom training of trainers (TOT) on the use of serological tools for immunity assessment, sero-epidemiological infection studies among health care workers before and after immunization and laboratory methods for detection.
The network has also co-authored a scientific article on their experience of Covid-19 in the region, which is pending publication.
Read the report in full MECIDS Overview