September 15, 2020
News
To put healthcare system standards in place and to make healthcare services available to those who can’t afford it. That is the main mission of Caritas Czech Republic in Georgia. While being successful in assisting those with a physical or mental disability or in palliative medicine, the Czech experts have also reacted to the Covid-19 infection and effectively trained Georgian doctors in the fight against it.
„The most important thing was to react to the situation and the conditions that arose in Georgia during the spread of the Covid-19 infection. Together with our colleagues we have supplied items such as protective accessories or antiseptics; during the course of a different project we have for instance printed information leaflets, performed screening of the population. This situation has shown us we are able to react well to the conditions around us, and be flexible,“ says Jan Blinka, the head of the Caritas Czech Republic mission in Georgia.
The healthcare system in Georgia rates relatively well. However, it has been privatised and so it is accessible rather to those who can afford it. „Even if you are paying health insurance this will not, in the majority of cases, cover all the costs of treatment,“ describes Blinka and he adds that the availability of healthcare services is better in larger towns and cities, however in the regions there are serious problems.
Success even with a low budget
The mission employees do not meet the patients during their work very often. „We work rather on the national, system level, to put general standards in place. We create strategic documents and protocols in cooperation with the Ministry of health,“ Blinka explains.
For example, part of the provision of palliative care is the help of Czech Caritas employees to disabled children. „It’s not just about the training of doctors, but also the supplies of equipment, or the construction of a new unit of palliative care in one of the hospitals. Children will be provided with 24 hour palliative care here and the standards will be equal to those in the Czech Republic,“ Blinka said.
Blinka considers the already mentioned efforts to put general healthcare standards in place to be probably the biggest achievement of Czech Caritas in Georgia. „Even with the relatively small amount of resources available to us we are able to achieve notable results, namely in the overall set-up of the system“ Blinka is convinced.
Mission employees of Caritas Czech Republic try to bring their Czech experience to the Georgian environment. „Georgia is undergoing a transformation was have gone through years ago – there is a shift from large institutes (to which everybody was moved), towards smaller, more specialized, community-type facilities,“ Blinka describes.
Caritas Czech Republic has started its development activities in Georgia in 2008, and established a permanent office in 2015. It is engaged in health and social care but also in agriculture, rural development and management of natural resources. It provides assistance to children with severe disabilities and to those with autistic spectrum disorder; and strives towards a greater social inclusion and a stronger civil society in Georgia. Caritas also puts great emphasis on the high level of responsibility towards its donors and partners and its activities are based on the principles of transparency and efficiency.
