In view of the restart of classes on Monday, April 20, the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast (URACCAN) has designed its own safety protocol, in order to ensure the health of its students, teachers and administrative staff.

The rector, Dr. Alta Hooker Blandford, explained that URACCAN proposes a comprehensive response to the pandemic, adapted to the multi-ethnic context of the Caribbean Coast to be implemented in its four enclosures.

See here the message of Dr. Alta Hooker, rector of URACCAN.

URACCAN's safety protocol follows the guidance of the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, but in turn incorporates ancestral medicine to strengthen the immune system of its university community and reduce the tension generated by the crisis. For this purpose, URACCAN has its Institute of Traditional Medicine and Community Development, and with intercultural doctors and nurses.

In this order of ideas, this study house is also promoting research that contributes to the treatment of coronavirus problems and their effective prevention. In addition, URACCAN will continue its training programme on this pandemic and will provide conditions to avoid overcrowding and maintain hygiene standards across all its campuses.

Comprehensive treatment of Caribbean Coast health issues

The first intercultural community university in Latin America, aware of the various problems facing Caribbean communities, has been working on hiv and malaria prevention, diseases that hit the Autonomous Regions, where contagion rates increase and cause multiple deaths. Therefore, combating all of these viruses, including the recent COVID-19, is a priority for URACCAN, Dr Hooker reported.

The commitment of this higher education house to indigenous, Afro-descendant and half-breed communities implies a comprehensive response to their health problems, adjusted to their multi-ethnic realities.