No images? Click here
Health Emergencies Newsletter
Issue No.32: 05.10.2023
TOP STORY
Statement: WHO intensifies support to Armenian Ministry of Health at this critical time
In less than a week, well over 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh – almost the entire estimated population of the territory - have poured into neighbouring Armenia, triggering a humanitarian crisis with acute health needs. WHO is working urgently to support the Ministry of Health of Armenia, under the wider government-led response, both now and in the months ahead.
WHO/Europe has declared an outbreak of poliovirus in Ukraine, detected in October 2021, officially closed. The European Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication endorsed the closure of the outbreak during its annual meeting on 8 September 2023. The country has achieved this milestone – stopping transmission of the virus that threatened the lives and futures of its children and preventing spread to other countries – in the face of the ongoing war.
The comprehensive outbreak response, initiated by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in December 2021, faced multiple challenges since the end of February 2022, including massive population displacement, destruction of health-care infrastructure and disruption of logistical routes for medical product deliveries.
On 31 August, some 50 experts from Ukrainian governmental bodies gathered in Bukovel, a town in the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine. The goal? To ensure affordable health care, spare people living in the war-torn country from financial hardship, and make sure Ukraine stays the course on its march towards universal health coverage.
Participants followed a curriculum consisting of presentations, practical group exercises and interactive discussions. A version of the flagship WHO Barcelona Health Financing Course for Universal Health Coverage tailored to the Ukrainian context, it aimed to strategically address the country’s current health-care challenges.
Preventing harm to patients and health workers in health-care facilities is fundamental to delivering safe, high-quality health-care services, as well as reducing health-care-associated infections and tackling the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This requires the implementation of robust infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes on both facility and national levels.
WHO IPC requirements are identified as an area for development for Member States, as the International Health Regulations (2005) acknowledge them as a core capacity for the surveillance of and response to potential public health events of international concern. Ukraine has taken another stride in this direction by making WHO IPC requirements mandatory for all health-care facilities in the country from 2024.
A powerful, high-quality microbiological laboratory is a crucial pillar of an effective antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance system. Recognizing this, Ukraine’s Antibiotic Resistance Plan places a strong emphasis on strengthening surveillance capabilities in the country.
To support the Antibiotic Resistance Plan’s implementation and increase the quality and speed of microbial identification in health-care facilities, the WHO Country Office in Ukraine donated AMR surveillance equipment and consumables to 10 laboratories nationwide, and consumables to 11 more laboratories that had already possessed the necessary equipment.
Dr Miljana Grbic is the WHO Representative in the Republic of Moldova. On World Humanitarian Day, she reflects on her own story.
"I have long been a provider of international humanitarian aid. But once I was a beneficiary of aid myself.
Decades ago, when my child was very young, our family, like many others affected by civil war, had to make the decision to flee our home because we could no longer guarantee that we would remain safe if we stayed.
Although my experience of being displaced was a long time ago, it has left lasting memories and continues to inform my decision-making as a humanitarian."
In August 2023, the Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital opened its new infection prevention and control (IPC) centre to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections. In the past years, the hospital has made consistent steps in enhancing its IPC practices, from training all health-care workers on the importance of hand hygiene to establishing the IPC centre, working with the WHO Country Office in Ukraine and setting an example of how co-investment multiplies the benefits for patients.
Although the Public Health Emergency of International Concern caused by COVID-19 has now ended, it is important to stress that the pandemic has not. The virus has not gone away; it is still circulating widely, still developing mutations and in some countries, hospitalizations are rising. As the European Region transitions to living with COVID-19 alongside other respiratory diseases, the need to protect those most at risk from severe consequences from these diseases remains just as important as ever.
In this photo story, WHO/Europe spoke to some of those who received their latest booster in the springtime or are expecting to get it shortly, about why they think vaccination is so important.
On 29 September 2023, the WHO Regional Office for Europe launches the campaign “Keeping safe from COVID-19, influenza, and RSV this autumn and winter. Protecting lives. Strengthening health systems”.
The campaign aims to highlight that:
- it’s vital for vulnerable populations to stay up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination and also to get an influenza vaccine this autumn/winter; and
- it’s important that everyone takes individual measures to reduce the risk of infection from respiratory viruses.
The campaign is also seeking to share best practices from successful health protection campaigns, including vaccination, and other initiatives in response to infections from respiratory viruses.
Dr Muminova and her colleague, Dr Nasiba Tairova from the Immunoprophylaxis Department of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health Service in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, participated in an immunization training programme for health care workers within a project co-funded by the European Union (EU) and WHO/Europe. The training sessions focused on key topics, including proper vaccine storage, administration and handling, and addressing adverse events following immunization. Participants learned about communication skills required for effective interaction with the public. According to a recent WHO study, health workers expressed increased confidence in recommending vaccinations after completing the training on communicating with patients about COVID-19 vaccination.
The COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), a multi-stakeholder partnership to facilitate sharing of intellectual property (IP), knowledge and innovations has announced three new licensing agreements acquired through the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). The agreements include licenses to transfer know-how, materials and clinical data needed in different countries.
Over 60 members of the local community in Hatay, south-east Türkiye, completed training to support the well-being of those affected by the region’s deadly earthquake, which left 106 000 people living in about 150 tent and container cities.
The intensive community health support staff training programme, organized by WHO, was tailored to the needs of a range of survivors, with topics such as reproductive health, elder care, interpersonal communication and community engagement, and breastfeeding counselling. It built on a collaboration that began in 2018 between the WHO Country Office in Türkiye and the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (SDGG-ASAM).
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
WHO/Europe asked youth activists and youth organizations from across Europe and central Asia what they see as the most pressing public health challenges of their time. Many mentioned climate change and the sustainability of health systems, while others expressed concern over the scourge of noncommunicable diseases and a rapidly ageing population.
To respond to these and other concerns and to increase engagement with youth representatives on pressing public health challenges, WHO/Europe has formally launched Youth4Health, its first-ever youth network on health and well-being. The network already includes over 80 individual members and 18 youth organizations from 29 countries across Europe and central Asia.
Over the last few years the number of emergencies in the WHO European region has increased dramatically. In addition to the direct health consequences, people living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are also profoundly affected.
WHO PUBLICATIONS
COVID-19
Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 29 September 2023
COVID-19 Vaccination Insights Report - 23 September 2023
MPOX (MONKEYPOX)
Multi-country outbreak of mpox, External situation report#28 – 19 September 2023
UKRAINE EMERGENCY
War in Ukraine: situation report from WHO Ukraine country office -06 September 2023
