Disease & Outbreaks

During 2020 and 2021, MAF assisted medical teams, governments and NGOs in their pandemic response activities. For every MAF flight we implemented infection control procedures to prepare each aircraft, and our engineers designed and organised manufacture of crew screens to separate the pilot and passengers on flights to reduce contact.

Our flights supported Covid testing and education for isolated communities, and in some programmes we flew patients (with appropriate safety measures in place) needing hospital care. We prepared for and supported the distribution of some vaccines to isolated communities, though national supplies were very small for the countries where we operate.

In Liberia

One of the first flights we did was in Liberia in March 2020, taking a medical team to Zwedru to test a patient with suspected Covid-19. Without the one-hour flight they would have had a 40 hour round trip to reach the patient and carry out the test.

In Timor-Leste

As a result of the pandemic, the region of Oecusse, in Timor-Leste, was cut off from the rest of the country as the Indonesian border closed and the sea ferries stopped running. MAF, in collaboration with Oxfam, was able to ensure 14,350 households in Oecusse received vital sanitation supplies and education about Covid-19.

In Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea high frequency (HF) radio was used by our MAF Technologies team to educate, reassure, and provide clarity to numerous communities that have no access to the internet or printed news, but who were hearing rumours of the devastation caused by Covid-19 globally. This included hosting a live two-way broadcast via their HF radio service, enabling Dr James Gahare to answer questions from health workers within the remote communities.

In Tanzania

In Tanzania, as part of our monthly medical safari schedule, we transported Covid vaccines along with the usual vaccines offered during clinics. However, the medical teams encountered hesitancy concerning the new vaccines, having heard rumours about possible side-effects.

In Madagascar

MAF flew 375,000 measles vaccinations to isolated Malagasy villages as part of a national response to a severe measles outbreak.

An estimated 58% of the population were vaccinated when the outbreak started in September 2018 (WHO and UNICEF). In combination with poverty and malnutrition, hundreds of children died during the outbreak.

The government, in collaboration with NGOs, initiated a campaign to vaccinate seven million children against measles; every child between nine months and nine years of age.

The impact of the vaccination programme was quickly seen within urban areas, but reaching rural districts, which make up the majority of Madagascar, was a big challenge: poor road conditions result in slow, time-consuming overland travel. In the rainy season many villages are inaccessible. Maintaining the cold chain for transportation of the vaccines was vital, so transfer by air was the only realistic option.

MAF transported 8281kgs of supplies to help fight the outbreak: vaccines in dry ice and accessories including syringes, vaccination cards, safety disposal boxes (for used syringes), banners and cotton to 12 remote locations for administration.

In South Sudan

MAF provided similar support with cold chain delivery in South Sudan. In 2020 we flew more than a hundred flight legs for Medair to support implementation of an urgent campaign to stop an outbreak of measles there.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a high-risk country for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and has experienced outbreaks several times throughout its recent history. MAF has been involved in each response in different capacities.

In response to the outbreak in 2018-19, in the North Kivu region near the city of Beni, MAF provided logistics support and flight operations from our bases in Nyankunde and Bunia, as well as from Kinshasa.

MAF worked with the World Food Program Logistics Cluster, DRC Ministry of Health, World Health Organization, the UN and other humanitarian agencies and NGOs in the coordination efforts and fight against Ebola.

Across a seventeen-month period, MAF flew response teams and cargo, including: 1,259kg of Ebola vaccines; medical and sanitation supplies; motorcycle parts for ground response teams; three Vsat dishes for logistics purposes; tents and oxygen bottles; and various other items to ensure a full medical response.