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Health Emergencies Newsletter
Issue No.31: 17.08.2023
TOP STORY
Statement by WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge
As much of the WHO European Region suffers under sweltering heat, we need to remember that without preparation the heat can be deadly. We can take immediate steps to protect ourselves and our loved ones, even as longer-term measures are urgently needed for our Region and our world.
New estimates recently released by the scientific journal Nature found that last year alone, more than 60,000 people in Europe died because of extreme heat – three times more than earlier estimated - and as our planet continues to warm, this number is set to rise year on year.
As we adapt to this new normal, with its devastating effects on health and well-being, it’s vital we are all armed with knowledge that could help save lives.
In an effort to address the destruction caused by the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation and ensure access to essential health-care services, WHO has partnered with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to identify a sustainable rapid solution to bridge the gap in medical services in affected territories and ensure an adequate emergency health response. This project aims to support communities and ensure the provision of health-care services in remote areas affected by war, where primary health facilities have been damaged.
Today, as part of this larger initiative, a new modular primary health care clinic has been installed in Izyum, Kharkiv region, replacing the previously destroyed primary health facility.
In Israel, as around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of children and adolescents. Measures taken to control the spread of the virus, such as school closures, lockdowns and social distancing, impacted their daily routines and well-being as they navigated a new normal with restrictions and limited social interactions. WHO/Europe’s recent Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, conducted at Bar-Ilan University in collaboration with the Israeli ministries of education and health investigated shifts in risk behaviours and mental health from the pre-pandemic period (2019) to when school and community activities resumed in 2022.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nicoleta Bodrug worked as a nurse at the Institute of Cardiology in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. “I could see how much patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or hospitalized due to complications caused by the virus were suffering. Their struggle led me to become involved in the promotion of vaccination,” she says.
Now a sixth-year student of preventive medicine, Nicoleta is one of 30 future medical professionals from the Republic of Moldova who were trained by the WHO Regional Office for Europe to help to spot online misinformation about vaccination and counter it with facts. Enabled and inspired by the training, these students continue to monitor 42 social media accounts and online media platforms, including those of well-known doctors and influencers, as well as mass media web platforms. When they spot vaccine misinformation, they report it and respond with evidence-based information and links to trustworthy sources, like the Ministry of Health or WHO. These actions are helping to curb the spread of misinformation and, by building trust in vaccination, helping to save lives.
Monday morning, 17 July 2023, Barcelona, Spain. Another hot day is about to begin. It follows a busy weekend that saw hundreds of thousands of people come together for the Barcelona Pride Parade – a riot of colour, music and dance that calls for LGBTQI+ rights.
Some of the Pride festival-goers are here this morning at Barcelona Checkpoint, a community-based centre that supports gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), and transgender women, focusing on the detection of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The centre also works closely with the health authorities.
Lisandro Moises Enrique has a mix of warmth and seriousness about him that is instantly likeable. The 48-year-old from Argentina moved to Barcelona, Spain, 4 years ago, and loves the city’s beach, its vibe and the quality of life that it offers. Lisandro was already living in Barcelona when COVID-19 hit. Then, last June, he got infected with mpox (monkeypox).
While he was in isolation, Lisandro received daily calls from staff at Barcelona Checkpoint, a community-based centre that supports gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), and transgender women. The centre focuses on the detection of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Gerard Funes Martin and Sergio Cuho have a lot of things in common. They both like going to the gym and hanging out with friends. They are also part of the gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) community, and volunteer for STOP (previously “STOP SIDA”) – a community-based organization in Barcelona, Spain, that works closely with local health authorities.
They are both outspoken and feel strongly about speaking out for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex (LGBTQI+) rights and against stigma, and revealing their identity whilst doing so. That is why Gerard talks openly about him being a sex worker, and why Sergio has stepped forth to talk about living with HIV.
They have both also had mpox (monkeypox), a disease that in the current outbreak in the WHO European Region has mostly affected the GBMSM community, and has placed people living with HIV at greater risk of severe disease if they catch the monkeypox virus.
6 February 2023 is a date that will never be forgotten by the millions of Turkish and Syrian people affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck that day. More than 50 000 people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were injured. Millions more lost their homes and their livelihoods. It was estimated that more than 9 million people were affected in some way by the disaster, with almost 3 million displaced.
WHO, in support of the Turkish Government, responded immediately, dispatching life-saving medicines and other medical supplies and activating its Emergency Medical Teams Network to provide essential services and support to those most in need. Notably, this deployment marked the largest emergency medical team operation ever undertaken in the WHO European Region.
On 6 February 2023, several massively destructive earthquakes struck 10 provinces in southern Türkiye. These were followed by thousands of aftershocks. As well as facing immediate danger from the earthquakes themselves, people in the affected areas faced many other health threats, such as the impact of cold and hypothermia in the wintry conditions. Risks also included further injury from damaged buildings, hygiene problems due to damaged water and sewage systems, and the ongoing individual and public health challenges experienced by displaced people living in temporary settlements and tents.
In addition to instigating search and rescue efforts and working to ensure health services and care for those affected by the earthquakes, WHO at regional and country levels worked with the country’s Ministry of Health (MoH) to develop, test and deliver health messaging to affected communities on approximately 30 topics. These included protection from cold and hypothermia, safe water use, food hygiene, vaccination (rabies and tetanus) and advice on mental health.
HEAT AND WILDFIRES
On 25 July 2023, staff at Cervello Hospital in Palermo, the capital of the Italian island of Sicily, watched anxiously as wildfires that had ravaged a nearby hilltop inched closer to them and their patients.
While wildfires were being extinguished just metres from the clinic and pharmacy, staff at the hospital worked on. They were battling to manage the impact of 10 days of record-breaking heat. With more people suffering from serious hyperthermia (excessive heat) and dehydration, the hospital had to run 2 fully staffed shifts instead of 1.
The condition of these patients could rapidly deteriorate, and many needed urgent medical attention to replace lost fluids and prevent serious outcomes. Despite health workers’ heroic efforts, during the heatwave the mortality rate in the emergency room rose by a third.
At 82 years old, Annunziata Gatta is still a force of nature. From her office in her home in Cuma, south-west Italy, Nunzia, as she is known, runs a charity which supports the education of Ethiopian women and children.
Recently, though, Nunzia, like many elderly people, has been affected by the extreme heat that has hit the region. She explains why heat can be extra difficult for elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions, and why, with extreme heat events increasing due to climate change, it is so important to care for vulnerable community members.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) continued their discussions towards a global accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, with a view to presenting the outcome of their work to the World Health Assembly in May 2024.
The Bureau’s text of the WHO CA+ was discussed 17-21 July during the sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft and negotiate an international instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. This document was prepared by the Bureau of the INB following the fifth meeting of the INB based on all inputs provided by Member States, and it was distributed to all Member States and published on the WHO website in May/June 2023.
WHO PUBLICATIONS
COVID-19
Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 10 August 2023
Standing recommendations for COVID-19 issued by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) in accordance with the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR)
COVID-19 Vaccination Insights Report - 31 July 2023
MPOX (MONKEYPOX)
Joint ECDC-WHO Regional Office for Europe Mpox Surveillance Bulletin: 11 August 2023
2022-2023 mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak: Global Trends
WHO Emergency Appeal: Monkeypox - July 2022 - June 2023
UKRAINE EMERGENCY
War in Ukraine: situation report from WHO Ukraine country office -13 July 2023
TÜRKIYE EARTHQUAKES
Türkiye earthquake: external situation report no. 9: 1 May–4 June 2023
