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Health Emergencies Newsletter
Issue No.28: 15.06.2023
TOP STORY
Although COVID-19 is no longer defined as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), it continues to take a significant toll on health globally. With the pandemic now in its fourth year, it is clear the virus is likely to stay with us for many years to come – if not forever. Responding to the current situation, and looking to the future, WHO/Europe is launching its transition plan for COVID-19.
“While the international public health emergency may have ended, the pandemic certainly has not,” explained Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for WHO/Europe. “And as our Region seeks to emerge from this crisis, it is also faced with new health threats, at a time when our health systems face increasing workforce and other challenges.”
The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on 6 June 2023 has caused widespread devastation and human suffering. The overall impact on water supplies, sanitation and sewage systems, and health services cannot be underestimated.
The severe flooding downstream has displaced thousands of people and destroyed vital infrastructure including roads, electricity lines, agricultural land, health facilities and private homes. The environmental damage alone could take years to fix, with potentially hazardous agricultural chemicals seeping into the water supply. Flooding in a highly industrialized zone poses the risk of additional chemical releases into water, which could severely impact people and animals for years to come. The floods are also believed to have dislodged unexploded mines.
WHO has verified more than 1000 attacks on health care in Ukraine since the invasion by the Russian Federation in February last year – the highest number WHO has ever recorded in any humanitarian emergency. This grim milestone yet again highlights the difficult and dangerous circumstances in which the country’s health system operates, and the challenges of providing both routine and emergency health-care services. Attacks hinder access to health care for tens of thousands of people, increasing the risks of illness and death.
The 1004 WHO-verified attacks over the past 15 months of full-scale war have claimed at least 101 lives, including of health workers and patients, and injured many more. They have impacted health providers, supplies, facilities and transport, including ambulances.
As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, WHO continues to provide support in analysing health data for an evidence-based response. In June 2023 the WHO Country Office in Ukraine, in collaboration with national and regional health authorities, conducted a second data interpretation workshop, expanding on the first round held in February this year.
The workshop brought together 70 representatives from 23 oblasts and the city of Kyiv, including officers and management from oblast health departments, and representatives from oblast medical information centres, subnational public health centres and health facilities.
Around 2.5 million households in Ukraine experienced catastrophic health spending in 2021. This represents nearly 1 in 5 households – a share that is higher than in many other countries in the WHO European Region, according to a new report launched today at the WHO Barcelona Forum on Financial Protection in Europe.
Catastrophic health spending means a household can no longer afford to meet its basic needs – food, housing and electricity – because of having to pay out of pocket for health care. In Ukraine, households with catastrophic health spending are mainly those with low incomes and those headed by pensioners or in rural areas.
The new WHO/Europe report, “Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in Ukraine”, shows that financial hardship due to out-of-pocket payments is almost entirely driven by spending on medicines and inpatient care. Medicines are the main driver in poorer households and inpatient care in wealthier households. Inpatient care plays a much larger role in driving catastrophic health spending in Ukraine than in most other countries in the European Region.
Partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), including WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), conducted an assessment of the overall response in Ukraine to an outbreak of paralytic poliomyelitis (polio) first detected in the country in October 2021.
The outbreak response assessment (OBRA), conducted on 23–26 May 2023, aimed to evaluate the risk of undetected transmission of poliovirus in Ukraine by reviewing the surveillance, vaccination and communication activities implemented in the outbreak response.
The OBRA team determined that despite the significant challenges faced by the outbreak response and disruptions to the health system due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, there was sufficient evidence to conclude that poliovirus is not circulating undetected in the country. The team therefore recommended that WHO/Europe consider officially closing the outbreak. The next step will be to verify that no poliovirus has been imported from Ukraine to neighbouring countries.
Leveraging the knowledge gained from the COVID-19 pandemic and advancing robust evidence is more critical than ever to strengthen respiratory pandemic preparedness following the end of the COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern. For public health and social measures (PHSM) – interventions to reduce the risk and scale of infectious disease transmission– coordinated research efforts are vital in better understanding their effectiveness and impact during the COVID-19 pandemic but also in accelerating their applicability to diverse respiratory pathogens.
The atmosphere at the ballroom event in Berlin is electric and joyful — it’s a place where many lesbian, gay, bisexual, but predominantly people from the trans community come together, free from discrimination. Tonight, around 500 event-goers are celebrating, applauding members of the community as they walk the catwalk and compete in dance-offs.
Amanita Calderón-Cifuentes, one of the ballroom judges, is carried in on the shoulders of 2 dancers. She’s a transwoman who is living with HIV, and in her day job, she’s an HIV Research and Advocacy Officer at Transgender Europe (TGEU), the mission of which is to strengthen the rights and well-being of trans people in Europe and central Asia. She is well-known for providing critical health information and advice for event-goers, and tonight the health topic she will address is mpox — a topic from which the trans community has often been excluded, be that in literature, guidance or services.
WHO PUBLICATIONS
COVID-19
Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 8 June 2023
COVID-19 Vaccination Insights Report - 29 May 2023
MPOX (MONKEYPOX)
2022 mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak: Global Trends
Joint ECDC-WHO Regional Office for Europe Mpox Surveillance Bulletin - 08 June 2023
WHO Emergency Appeal: Monkeypox - July 2022 - June 2023
TURKIYE & SYRIA EARTHQUAKES
Türkiye earthquake: external situation report no.8: 17–30 April 2023
UKRAINE EMERGENCY
War in Ukraine: situation report from WHO Ukraine country office -31 May 2023
