WHO/Europe Health Emergencies Newsletter - Issue No.38:13.06.2024
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Health Emergencies Newsletter
Issue No.38
13.06.2024
Including stories on: amendments to the International Health Regulations, the life-changing medevac and repatriation programme for injured Ukrainians, public health advice for the UEFA European championships and more.
TOP STORY
In an historic development, the World Health Assembly, the annual meeting of its 194 member countries, today agreed a package of critical amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), and made concrete commitments to completing negotiations on a global pandemic agreement within a year, at the latest. These critical actions have been taken in order to ensure comprehensive, robust systems are in place in all countries to protect the health and safety of all people everywhere from the risk of future outbreaks and pandemics.
MEASLES
During the first three months of 2024, 56 634 measles cases and four deaths were officially reported across 45 out of 53 countries in the WHO European Region . Throughout 2023, 61 070 cases and 13 deaths were reported by 41 countries.
Measles has a devastating effect on children’s health, with young children most at risk of severe complications. High rates of hospitalization and long-lasting weakening of children’s immune systems make children more vulnerable to other infectious diseases. More than half of those who contracted measles in the Region in 2023 were hospitalized, demonstrating the severe burden on individuals, families and health-care systems.
In March 2023, in the Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine, Ihor’s hips and pelvis were shattered when a Russian bomb hit the site where he was working as a driver for an electrical company. After multiple surgeries, he was evacuated to Austria through the Ukrainian Ministry of Health’s medical evacuation (medevac) and repatriation programme for hip replacement surgeries and rehabilitation.
The programme, co-funded by the European Union and run with technical and operational support from WHO, is helping to relieve some of the pressure on Ukrainian health services caused by the war. It connects Ukrainian patients with specialist trauma treatment, oncology, rehabilitation or prosthetic care in hospitals and rehabilitation centres across the WHO European Region and beyond. Its multiple partners are collaborating to ensure access to timely treatment, which has enormous impacts on patients’ quality of life, today and for years to come.
Vitali is one of over 70 sick or severely injured Ukrainian patients brought to Austria to receive specialist medical treatment through a dedicated medevac and repatriation programme. He has been supported at each stage of his complex journey towards better health. He has already received intensive treatment to help him regain use of his arm and now has a prosthetic leg that, with time and physical rehabilitation, will enable him to walk unaided.
As of 30 April, 4069 patients had been evacuated for specialist trauma treatment and oncological, rehabilitation or prosthetic care in hospitals and rehabilitation centres across the WHO European Region and further afield. The programme, co-funded by the European Union and run with technical and operational support from WHO, is helping to relieve some of the pressure on Ukrainian health services caused by the war.
Brenda Rodita and Mihail Bucur, along with their 3 daughters, Angelina, Victoria and Leila, are among the thousands of families who have fled to the Republic of Moldova due to the war in Ukraine. They have been living at the refugee centre in Chișinău for several months and are grateful for the shelter provided. Brenda and Mihail are relieved that their daughters are safe and can enjoy life.
They are particularly grateful that their daughters were recently vaccinated against measles after an outbreak was detected in the centre.
Adjusting primary health care (PHC) provider payments in Ukraine to better meet the population’s needs, and understanding the war’s impact on their work, are essential steps to enhancing the quality and accessibility of care, reveal two reports released by WHO/Europe.
As part of the support for the ongoing health financing reforms in Ukraine, the report “Results of costing for provider payments in primary health care in Ukraine” provides a comprehensive cost analysis, offering valuable insights for recalculating and adjusting payments to PHC providers. The second report “Impact of the conflict on the costs of primary health care and investments in Ukraine” delves into survey results from providers, to assess the impact of the war on PHC providers across the country.
Despite the ongoing conflict, Ukraine is pursuing its reform of primary health care (PHC). On 15–16 May 2024, WHO, together with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the National Health Service of Ukraine, hosted the second PHC conference in Ukraine.
The event focused on the ongoing reform, which includes improvements related to PHC financing for better access and quality of care, workforce development, digitalization and transparency, and the future direction of PHC in Ukraine. It convened more than 500 PHC professionals along with health authorities and international partners.
COVID-19 AND RESPIRATORY VIRUSES
WHO, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and the Japanese Government officially handed over US$ 150 0000 worth of essential laboratory equipment to Bulgaria's National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases on 11 April 2024 as part of a broad programme to support the country's health systems in providing health protection and care for a high number of refugees from Ukraine.
Alongside specialized technical support to strengthen the country’s emergency response, this equipment will help increase capacity to detect and prevent the spread of many infectious diseases – such as measles, hepatitis and cholera – that could pose a particular threat to displaced people living in crowded conditions.
CLIMATE EMERGENCY
Dengue is a viral infection caused by the dengue virus (DENV), transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. About half of the world’s population is now at risk of dengue, with an estimated 100–400 million infections occurring each year. Dengue is found in tropical and subtropical climates worldwide, but in recent decades it has been shifting and spreading into temperate zones.
Rising temperatures across the WHO European Region due to climate change, combined with rain and increased humidity – conditions more favourable for dengue’s mosquito vectors, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus – may have contributed to the increase in cases. This is compounded by the recent outbreaks in Latin America and southeast Asia, which have increased the likelihood of imported cases in the Region.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
On 1 June, during the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly (WHA77), delegates from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and from WHO/Europe met to commemorate the signing of the biennial collaborative agreement (BCA) between WHO and Bulgaria for 2024–2025.
Covering 2024–2025, the BCA includes priority issues and areas of focus including the health workforce, mental health, preparedness for health emergencies and reduction of risk factors of noncommunicable diseases. It includes expansion of outpatient care and primary care, with a focus on the full spectrum of health services – from immunizations and maternal and newborn care, to rehabilitation and long-term care.
This year’s UEFA European Championship, UEFA EURO 2024, will kick off in Germany on 14 June and run for a whole month until July 14, pitting Europe’s national football teams against each other. Each of the matches will be held in a stadium that can hold as many as 70 000 people, many of whom will have travelled from far and wide to enjoy this sporting spectacle held every 4 years.
WHO, together with the German Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), have jointly developed public health advice for UEFA EURO 2024 to promote the health, safety and well-being of spectators attending matches. The advice, covering a broad range of topics, seeks to enhance the overall experience for fans while prioritizing health and safety in light of the potential health risks associated with mass gatherings.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored that high-quality research is critically needed to inform health emergency and disaster risk management (health EDRM). When emergencies and disasters strike, whether they be epidemics, pandemics, natural disasters or the increasing hazards that climate change presents, robust scientific evidence should inform strategies, policies and priorities for action. Decision-makers need this evidence to allow them to act quickly and effectively, maintain trust, reduce suffering and mortality, and speed up recovery.
To exchange knowledge and create opportunities for research collaboration, WHO/Europe together with the WHO Centre for Health Development based in Kobe, Japan (the WHO Kobe Centre), convened the first-ever regional workshop on research capacity-building for health EDRM, supported by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
In September 2023, the State Institution "National Reference Laboratory" (NRL) of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan (MoHSP) was recognized by WHO as a National Influenza Center (NIC). The recognition followed a period of dedicated support from the WHO Regional Office for Europe to the NRL through trainings, international mentoring and technical assessments – all supported by the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework Partnership Contribution (PC). As the 153rd NIC to be recognized, this represents the further expansion of the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS).
Since the launch of the Preparedness and resilience to Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative and its global Call to Action in April 2023, the WHO Regional Office for Europe (the Regional Office) has intensified its support to Member States to strengthen pandemic preparedness including revising pandemic plans. The PRET initiative encourages Member States to apply a mode of transmission approach to preparedness by leveraging routine systems and capacities to respond to pathogens with a similar mode of transmission.
These efforts are a continuation of the support provided by WHO to selected Member States since 2014 under the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework Partnership Contribution (PC), with a specific focus on improving national pandemic influenza preparedness capacities. In recent years, pandemic planning efforts have encompassed preparedness for respiratory pathogens with pandemic potential, while still focusing on influenza given the constant pandemic threat it poses.
