Health Emergencies Newsletter

Issue No.22: 09.03.2023

TOP STORY

Countries begin negotiations on global agreement to protect world from future pandemic emergencies

Countries of the World Health Organization have begun negotiations on a global accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, using the "zero draft" as a basis for negotiating an agreement to protect nations and communities from future pandemic emergencies.

Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) Co-Chair, Ms Precious Matsoso of South Africa, said: “The efforts this week, by countries from around the world, was a critical step in ensuring we do not repeat the mistakes of the COVID-19 pandemic response, including in sharing life-saving vaccines, provision of information and development of local capacities.”

TÜRKIYE & SYRIA EARTHQUAKES

Dealing with the psychological aftershocks of the Türkiye earthquakes; why mental health and psychosocial support is so desperately needed

The scale and impacts of the February 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria have created almost unimaginable psychological stressors on individuals that have survived the disaster. From being caught up in the quakes and often injured, seeing their homes badly damaged or destroyed, cities flattened and becoming ghost towns, to losing friends, family and colleagues – the mental health effects on communities are immense.

War, armed conflict and other man-made or natural disasters, such as the Türkiye and Syria earthquakes cause profound distress and can in some cases ignite or inflame existing mental health conditions. Although most people will recover without help, an estimated 1 in 5 people will have a mental health condition in the next 10 years, and 1 in 10 will have a severe condition like post-traumatic stress disorder or psychosis. This makes good quality mental health and psychosocial support essential for the recovery of those caught up in emergency situations.

WHO flash appeal: Earthquake response
in Türkiye and Whole of Syria

This Flash appeal outlines the health situation in the two countries following this humanitarian disaster, the main threats to health, the WHO response since the earthquakes hit and priorities for addressing the health impacts in both countries.

Details of WHO’s response priorities to support the populations affected are provided, together with the funding requirements to address the immediate and urgent health needs by area and overall. These needs continue to evolve based on ongoing damage assessments.

Donations in support of WHO’s work following this emergency can be made through the WHO Foundation.

WHO Foundation Health Emergency Appeal for Türkiye and Syria

Donate now

UKRAINE EMERGENCY

WHO 2023 Emergency Appeal: Ukraine & Refugee-Receiving Countries

WHO’s Ukraine and Refugee-receiving countries crisis response appeal enables the agency’s work as it delivers critical, life-saving healthcare for over 11.4 million vulnerable, conflict-affected people and those at risk of service disruptions.

For period January - December 2023, the appeal details WHO’s resource needs for Ukraine and refugee-receiving countries that are estimated at US$ 240 million: US$ 160 million for the health response in Ukraine and US$ 80 million for addressing the healthcare needs of Ukrainian refugees in refugee-receiving countries.

With the funds sought, WHO aims to ensure that until December people affected by the conflict can access essential health services including emergency and trauma care in Ukraine and refugee-receiving countries.

More than 100 000 people reached with key health interventions at Ukraine’s frontlines

WHO in Ukraine has delivered essential medicines and supplies to areas close to the frontline in Ukraine this week, reaching up to 118 000 people with key health interventions.

Up to 12 interagency UN humanitarian convoys reached more than a dozen settlements in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions with supplies including interagency health kits, trauma supplies and medicines to treat noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

“The delivery of these convoys marks an important moment in ensuring that populations have access to essential health care and other needs in areas that have been significantly damaged by the war,” explained Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine.

Using data to provide more specialized health care in Ukraine

The WHO Country Office in Ukraine, in collaboration with national and regional health authorities, is using data collection and monitoring tools to assess health-care resources and service availability to inform critical health-care interventions in areas impacted by the war.

The Health Resources and Services Availability Monitoring System (HeRAMS) involves gathering information on the functionality of health facilities, damages incurred, basic amenities and service availability across various domains, including trauma and general services, child health and nutrition, communicable diseases, sexual and reproductive health, maternal and newborn care, noncommunicable diseases, and mental health and psychosocial support.

WHO Health Emergency Appeal for Ukraine

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COVID-19

New study helps inform actions to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Albania’s health workers

Enxhi Durmishaj is 29 years old and works in an administrative role at Mother Teresa Hospital, a large public hospital in Tirana, Albania’s capital. Rudina Çopa is 33 and oversees the sanitation team’s work and waste management at the Durres Regional Hospital in western Albania. Both women are vaccinated against COVID-19, having received 2 primary vaccine doses and a booster dose.

Why did they get vaccinated? Durmishaj explains, “I believe that vaccination is the most effective form of protection against COVID-19. I believe in vaccination and its effectiveness. In Albania, one of the things we are most proud of is the immunization programme. The programme is one of the most consolidated public health interventions.”

COVID-19’s unequal impact in Kazakhstan: examining the divide between urban and rural children

In Kazakhstan, urban and rural children experienced the COVID-19 crisis differently, reveals WHO/Europe’s collaborative Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study.

Severe restrictions in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted adolescents’ social lives and school routines, only to be followed by the additional challenge of readjusting and returning to their everyday routines once societies reopened.

In spring 2022, the National Centre for Public Health and the WHO Country Office in Kazakhstan collaborated to conduct the second round of the HBSC survey, which focused on collecting adolescents’ perspectives on their health and well-being well-being during this latter stage.

A story from a virologist in Kyrgyzstan: better labs as a bridge to a stronger health system

Dr Baltabaeva is one of 96 laboratory specialists who had been trained in the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection by WHO. The training involved local polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method experts from the National Tuberculosis Center, AIDS centers, Republican Center for Quarantine and Especially Dangerous Infections, State Centers for Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of Bishkek and the Jalal-Abad, Osh and Issyk-Kul regions, and private laboratories.

The training was developed to equip laboratory specialists with basic skills for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. Dr Baltabaeva, together with her colleagues, also received face-to-face training in biosafety in laboratory settings and in working with high-threat pathogens and dangerous materials, as well as training in safe collection, transportation, processing, and preparation of samples for further testing.

New “Health Caravan” promotes better health by offering easy access to health checks and on-the-spot COVID-19, HPV and MMR vaccination

WHO, together with Montenegro’s Ministry of Health and Institute of Public Health (IPH) has jointly launched a new initiative – the “Health Caravan” – as part of the American Rescue Plan COVID-19 Response Activity in Montenegro financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The aim of the “Health Caravan” is to promote the benefits of immunization as a life-saving intervention. The focus will be on COVID-19 vaccination, but the initiative will include other vaccines, against human papillomavirus (HPV) and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

A community leader in Kyrgyzstan issues an urgent call to fellow villagers: Get vaccinated

Abdyjapar Safarbekov has lived in Ak-Jar, a rough-hewn settlement known as a novostroika, with his family for more than 17 years. This settlement, consisting of 1900 households with 5600 inhabitants, is located on the outer limits of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital, along with 47 other settlements established in 2005.

“COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has been a real challenge amid all the rumours and disinformation about the vaccine,” continues Abdyjapar. “The reluctance stems partly from myths such as the pandemic being a foreign conspiracy. The hesitancy is also based on cultural and religious beliefs.”

To counter myths and misinformation, Abdyjapar involves religious leaders to deliver sermons, to remove doubts and fears, as part of an awareness campaign. After a detailed conversation with vaccine-deniers about the importance of vaccination for their overall health, villagers usually agree and accept the shot.