The military offensive by the Russian Federation in Ukraine which began February 2022 has triggered one of the world’s fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crisis, with geopolitical and economic ripples felt across the globe. The ongoing ...war has caused large-scale disruptions to the delivery of health services and a near-collapse of the health system. But the crisis also saw an extraordinary mobilization and crisis response to a health emergency by WHO and its more than 100 partners.
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This WHO Strategic Response Plan (SRP) will be implemented in collaboration with partners providing life-saving support to people affected by the conflict in Ukraine, whether they are inside or outside Ukraine. It is an overarching framework b...uilt on the Ukraine Flash Appeal 2022 to guide priorities and work, according to access and location, in support of national and local authorities who are leading the readiness, response and early recovery activities. The timeframe of this SRP is six months.
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Saving lives is the priority of WHO’s response in Ukraine. WHO works to ensure time-critical, lifesaving multisectoral assistance, non-discriminatory access to emergency and essential health servi...ces and priority prevention programmes, and laying the foundation for longer-term health systems recovery and strengthening.
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Since 24 February 2022, the war in Ukraine has caused widespread suffering to its people and serious damage
to the country’s infrastructure. Attacks on the country’s health system and its power network threaten people, compromise the provision ...of health care, and complicate the distribution of essential medicines and equipment.
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This bulletin focuses on the situation in Ukraine and several key refugee-receiving countries (Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia), with the understanding that other countries in the European Region are also receiving Ukrainian refugees and WHO is pr...oviding technical support to them.
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Nearly 260 000 people died in parts of Somalia between October 2010 and April 2012, including
133 000 children under five during the famine and food crisis in Somalia making it the worst famine in history.
A study commissioned and funded by the Fo...od and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s food security and nutrition analysis unit for Somalia stated that the famine early warning systems clearly identified the risk of famine in South Central Somalia in 2010–2011 but timely action to prevent the onset of famine was not taken. The result was large scale
mortality, morbidity and population displacement.
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It highlights the numerous challenges to quality service provision, along with the organisation’s response to mental health needs, and recommendations for international and regional decision-maker...s including:
- Advocating and working towards mental health policies that support adequate funding for mental health care and government suppor
- Legislation to protect the rights of people with mental disorders and vulnerable communities
- Advocating for multi-year funding to support the sustainability of MHPSS programs
- Creating capacity building opportunities consistent with the IASC guidelines and supported with continuous supervision
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A country’s ability to manage a crisis depends on its level of resilience. Efforts are made to clarify the concept of health system resilience, but its operationalisation remains little studied. I...n the present research, we described the capacity of the local healthcare system in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, in West Africa, to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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September – December 2021
The funds will be used by WHO to ensure:
continued coordination with other agencies and health actors in the response to the ...box">crisis situation
continuity of health services for the population of Afghanistan
provision of life-saving medical supplies
continued response to COVID-19
timely response to potential outbreaks
response to urgent trauma needs
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Fifth Edition of the Civil Society Appraisal of the Political and Financial Contributions provided by the German Government in support of the UN Targets on Global Health and HIV Control
COVID-19 poses challenges in places of detention, given the specific vulnerabilities of detainees and difficulty of containing outbreaks in such settings. The ICRC's approach to COVID-19 in detention is anchored in support to the authorities who are primarily and ultimately responsible for the wellb...eing of detainees and staff.
In the context of a public health crisis, it is crucial to ensure good communication with detainees, staff and visitors on the scale of the pandemic and the measures taken to prevent its spread.
The ICRC has produced three sensitization and training videos for use by detaining authorities and for all in the wider public who may be affected by detention, such as families of detainees. Using an existing virtual prison environment, the recommended response of a fictional detaining authority is portrayed.
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The roundtable provided a forum that allowed communicators across a number of Federal agencies to share information, strategies, and challenges in developing and providing communication messages and materials to the public in preparation for, and in ...ighlight medbox">response to, a radiation emergency. Throughout the discussion , several “big picture” qestions were brought up that may be addressed in future interagency efforts.
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In many humanitarian emergencies, there is a serious lack of access to even the most basic materials needed for managing the blood in addition to a lack of appropriate sanitation facilities (including water), which are critical for addressing menstrual hygiene. Privacy in emergencies is often scarc...e, and even if toilets are available they often lack locks, functioning doors, lighting and separation between genders. These barriers are often intensified by cultural beliefs and taboos surrounding menstruation which can restrict the movements and behaviors of girls and women
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The overall goal of this strategy is to ensure accurate understanding of the
benefits of covid-19 vaccination and alleviate apprehension about the vaccine, to ensure its acceptance and encourage uptake across various audiences.
Objectives
x Create demand, promote acceptability and accessibility o...f COVID-19
vaccine among at least 90% of the general public.
x Develop appropriate messages and identify channels to communicate
the potential benefits and risks of the vaccine to all concerned parties,
including decision-makers at all levels.
x Provide timely and accurate information to address misinformation,
rumors and other crisis situations.
x Effectively mobilize and empower communities to ensure participation
and ownership of the vaccination process
x Strengthen communication mechanisms and partnerships among key
stakeholders to support the national communication effort.
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For humanitarian organisations to respond effectively to complex crises, they require access to up-to-date evidence-based guidance. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of updating global guidance to context-specific and evolving needs... in humanitarian settings. Our study aimed to understand the use of evidence-based guidance in humanitarian responses during COVID-19. Primary data collected during the rapidly evolving pandemic sheds new light on evidence-use processes in humanitarian response.
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In response to the global crisis the WCEA is now distributing Coronavirus courses from some of the world’s leading education providers . The content is being provided free of charge to all registe...red healthcare professionals.
To access the courses please register for an account. This will be emailed to you.
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The slow global response to the Ebola crisis in west Africa suggests that important gaps exist in donor financing for key global functions, such as support for ...dbox">health research and development for diseases of poverty and strengthening of outbreak preparedness. In this Health Policy, we use the International Development Statistics databases to quantify donor support for such functions. We classify donor funding for health into aid for global functions (provision of global public goods, management of cross-border externalities, and fostering of leadership and stewardship) versus country-specific aid. We use a new measure of donor funding that combines official development assistance (ODA) for health with additional donor spending on research and development (R&D) for diseases of poverty.
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The Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis is one of the biggest external displacement crises in the world today. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded an already desperate situation for many refugees and migrants, as well as their hosts, sorely testi...ng health and social welfare systems and the ability of countries to assist the vulnerable population.
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For the past years, Haiti has been engulfed in a socioeconomic, political, and humanitarian crisis that has reached critical levels since mid-September 2022 with the intensification of gang violence and social unrest. The widespread insecurity and
...political instability have drastically affected the country’s access to essential goods and services, including food, water, and health. The current fuel supply crisis has affected the water and electricity supply to the population, health centers, and hospitals. Due to problems of insecurity and violence, patients and health personnel have difficulty accessing hospitals and health services.
In parallel, the public health system and international partners face limited response capacity due to reduced international personnel in Haiti, logistics issues, and difficulties in importing supplies. Indeed insecurity, roadblocks, and lockdowns are affecting the importation of internationally procured goods, which may slow the arrival of essential lifesaving supplies to support cholera response efforts. This scenario is particularly problematic, as cholera recently resurfaced in early October.
Armed gangs now control over 60% of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, affecting at least 1.5 million people, and have expanded their influence outside of the capital city, interrupting vital humanitarian programs in most of the national territory,
including COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
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