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Editorial
This month’s Highlights first features updates on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, Yemen and Abyei, and provides a few highlights on the health situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Next, it introduces the 2010 overview of WHO’s work in emergencies and humanitarian action. It then gives a brief overview on the activities of the Programme on Vulnerability and Risk Analysis & Mapping in Tunis and informs on the third Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction and on the Granada meeting on post-disaster and post-conflict needs assessments. It concludes with a few meetings and updates in emergency activities in the regions.
Activities in countries
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Côte d’Ivoire: refurbishing damaged health facilities after the conflict
Approximately 200 000 people have been internally displaced by the post-election fighting, of which 186 000 have found refuge in the western Montagnes and Moyen Cavally regions. Inadequate sanitation, insufficient drinking water, poor living conditions and lack of health care services are putting the population at great risk of diarrhoeal diseases.
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Libya: boosting humanitarian health support inside the country
Acute lack of nursing staff and critical shortage of medicines are reported in Misuarata, where a inter-agency assessment was conducted recently, and in the Nafusa Mountains. The 18-May revised Flash Appeal estimates that up to 1.6 million people require humanitarian aid within Libya, including more than 460 000 displaced people.
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Yemen: supporting the provision of essential health care
The situation remains fluid and unpredictable. Stocks of medicines in the country are sufficient for the next one to three months, but fuel shortages are hampering their distribution to many areas. The shortages are also affecting hospital generators, impacting on the provision of emergency health services, and raising operational costs.
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Sudan: Supporting health care for populations fleeing Abyei
Following clashes between northern and southern forces, most of the population has left Abyei Town. The immediate needs of displaced people are shelter, food and access to safe water and sanitation. The influx of population in the neighbouring states is expected to put a heavy burden on local capacities to provide primary health care services.
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Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: continuing to improve women’s and children’s health
Despite important progress in public health programmes such as immunization, polio eradication and control of tuberculosis and malaria, there are still challenges in the health sector. The persistence of these problems is largely attributable to serious shortages of essential medicines and basic medical equipment and supplies.
Other news
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2010 overview of WHO’s work in emergencies and humanitarian action
pdf, 1.31Mb
The year 2010 was marked by two major natural disasters. The earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January was, in the words of WHO’s Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, “a mega-disaster that stretched the resources of the humanitarian community to the limit”. The floods that ravaged Pakistan seven months later cut a devastating swathe through the country, stealing “the dreams of millions of Pakistanis, shattering their hopes for a better future, and reversing years of development gains”.
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Assessing and analysing health risks for emergency preparedness and response
The Programme on Vulnerability and Risk Analysis & Mapping (VRAM) in the WHO Mediterranean Centre for Health Risk Reduction helps Member States and partners strengthen their capacity for assessing and analysing health risks and integrate the results in emergency preparedness and response programmes.
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Health at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, Geneva, Switzerland, 8-13 May 2011
More than 2600 delegates and health sector representatives participated in the third session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Geneva on 9–13 May in conjunction with the World Reconstruction Conference focusing on disaster recovery and reconstruction.
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Technical consultation on the health component of post-disaster and post-conflict needs assessments and recovery planning 28-29 April 2011 Granada, Spain
In order to support the development of health sector guidance for post-disaster and post-conflict needs assessments, WHO and the Andalusian School of Public Health in Granada organized a technical consultation bringing together humanitarian and development actors, organizations and institutions working in natural disaster and conflict situations and representatives from countries where assessments have taken place.
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KOFIH pledged US$ 130 000 to reinforce preparedness and response in the WHO South-East Asia Region
The Korean Foundation for International Healthcare – Dr Lee Jong-Wook Memorial Fund (KOFIH) has pledged KRW 150 million (approx. US$ 130 000) to support the assessment of preparedness and response capacities in the WHO South-East Asia Region (SEARO).
Other meetings
- National consultation on migration health, Mombasa, Kenya, 4-6 May 2011
- 6th Summer Institute on Migration and Global Health, California, USA 20-24 June 2011