DR ‹ › The national strategy to combat the cold wave this winter aims to support approximately 833,000 people, announced Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit on Monday during a session at the House of Representatives. Addressing oral questions on the initiative, Laftit detailed that the plan targets around 167,000 families living in 2,018 rural villages, across 231 territorial communes in 28 prefectures and provinces. He highlighted that, following directives from King Mohammed VI, the supreme commander and chief of the general staff of the Royal Armed Forces, the FAR has established three field hospitals in the communes of Tounfite (Midelt province), Ouirgane (Al Haouz province), and Aït M'hamed (Azilal province), which are now operational and serving the local population. The Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity is also actively involved, delivering urgent humanitarian aid to communities threatened by the cold wave. This effort has so far reached over 859 villages in 100 communes across 16 provinces, according to the minister. To ensure effective assistance, Laftit explained that the Ministry of the Interior has categorized the affected areas into three risk levels: the red level, covering 382 villages with 24,000 families and a population of 137,000; the orange level, which includes 1,253 villages with 91,000 families, totaling nearly 470,000 people; and the yellow level, comprising 383 villages with 51,000 families, amounting to about 225,000 people. Moreover, Laftit stressed that the intervention strategy is socially focused, utilizing medical caravans and mobile units as part of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection's Riaya program, which plans to deploy 339 caravans and 1,883 units.
