Infectious diseases
The SRC works in Switzerland and other countries around the world to combat infectious diseases and epidemics. It carries out important work educating the population in partnership with the local Red Cross.
Challenges
COVID-19
The novel coronavirus has spread throughout the world. It has joined the list of infectious diseases that continue to plague people in many different countries. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that is highly contagious and can be fatal for some people. There are no drugs to treat it. Access to vaccines is patchy around the world.
Other diseases
Other infectious diseases are also rampant: HIV/AIDS, cholera, dengue, tuberculosis, malaria, Zika, Ebola and meningitis claim millions of lives every year.
Poverty
Diseases make poverty worse. When people are sick, they cannot work. They cannot harvest their crops and they lose their livelihoods. In the case of COVID-19, one lockdown after another and disruptions to work have plunged many people into precarity.
Importance of information
Infectious diseases can generally be avoided and treated. People must be educated about how these diseases are transmitted, the availability of vaccines and treatment options.
Our goal
In Switzerland and other countries around the world, people need to know how to protect themselves from disease. When they do fall ill, they need to know what treatments are available. Access to healthcare must be guaranteed.
Red Cross volunteers are trained. They know how to run prevention and education campaigns. Under certain circumstances, they can support vaccination drives. They wear personal protective equipment.
The SRC supports UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 ’Good health and well-being’, so everyone can live healthy lives by 2030.
What we do
The SRC works in Switzerland and around the world to combat infectious diseases and epidemics. It carries out important work educating people in partnership with the local Red Cross, as well as distributing supplies and deploying specialists.
Where we help
The SRC works in Switzerland and around the world to combat infectious diseases and epidemics.
Our project countries
Your support is important
A donation to combat coronavirus
Together, let’s provide COVID-19 support for the most vulnerable.
