Noncommunicable diseases in humanitarian settings

2 October 2024

The numbers of people living with NCDs are increasing rapidly across the world including in humanitarian settings. This photo story shows how services are being delivered across a range of humanitarian settings including acute and protracted crises and for displaced populations.

UNHCR / Victor Sánchez Mejía
Honduran refugee receives medical care in Guatemala. Bordering Honduras and El Salvador, Guatemala receives a high flow of mixed population movements, including refugees and migrants.
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A refugee from Honduras has their blood pressure checked, Guatemala

Bordering Honduras and El Salvador, Guatemala receives a high flow of mixed population movements, including refugees and migrants.

 

UNHCR / Osama Sabbah
Doctor conducts a regular check on a child living with a disability at a health clinic in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan.
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Child living with a disability, Azraq refugee camp, Jordan

Doctor conducts a regular check on a child living with a disability at a health clinic in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan.

UNHCR / Sala Lewis
Rudima is a refugee from Congo living in Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania. He was shocked and scared when he first got diagnosed with diabetes in 2020.
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Living with diabetes, Nyarugusu refugee camp, Tanzania

Rudima is a refugee from Congo living in Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania. He was shocked and scared when he first got diagnosed with diabetes in 2020. Today he feels much better, as he now understands his condition and receives medication and care at the health facility in the camp. His community health care worker Bosco also helps him manage his disease.

UNHCR / Sala Lewis
Rudima is a refugee from Congo living in Nyarugusu refugee camp in the United Republic of Tanzania. He feared for his life, when he got diagnosed with diabetes in 2020.
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Rudima working with his family in their kitchen garden

Rudima is a refugee from Congo living in Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania. He feared for his life, when he got diagnosed with diabetes in 2020. Today he has access to continuous care and receives monthly supplements of nutritious food. Rudima also works with his family in their kitchen garden to grow healthy food.

UNHCR / Sala Lewis
Dr Elias works as a clinician in Nyarugusu refugee camp in the United Republic of Tanzania. He now provides care to NCD patients in the camp and trains community health workers to increase awareness about NCD risk factors.
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Doctor managing NCDs, Nyarugusu refugee camp, United Republic of Tanzania

Dr Elias works as a clinician in the Nyarugusu refugee camp in the United Republic of Tanzania. As part of UNHCR’s partnership with the World Diabetes Foundation, Dr Elias received training on NCD care. He now provides care to NCD patients in the camp and trains community health workers to increase awareness about NCD risk factors among the refugees living in the camp.

UNHCR / Sala Lewis
Pascaline is a Congolese refugee living in Nyankanda refugee camp in Burundi, where she takes care of her family of eight. Pascaline lives with hypertension and regularly goes to the NCD clinic in the camp.
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Self monitoring blood pressure, Nyankanda refugee camp, Burundi

Pascaline is a Congolese refugee living in Nyankanda refugee camp in Burundi. She has been diagnosed with hypertension and regularly goes to the NCD clinic in the camp. A community health worker helps Pascaline and other patients use their self-monitoring equipment.

UNHCR / Sala Lewis
Pascaline is a Congolese refugee living in Nyankanda refugee camp in Burundi, where she takes care of her family of eight. A community health worker helps Pascaline and other patients use their self-monitoring equipment.
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Living with high blood pressure, Burundi

Pascaline is a Congolese refugee living in Nyankanda refugee camp in Burundi, where she takes care of her family of eight. Pascaline lives with hypertension and regularly goes to the NCD clinic in the camp. With her new equipment, she is now able to monitor her blood pressure at home.

UNHCR / Mia Bülow-Olsen
Charles Akim, a refugee from South Sudan, has high blood pressure and finds it very useful to be part of a support group for NCD patients at Natukobenyo health centre in northern Kenya.
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Community support for those living with NCDs, Northern Kenya

Charles Akim, a refugee from South Sudan, has high blood pressure and finds it very useful to be part of a support group for NCD patients at Natukobenyo health centre in northern Kenya.  

With support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Grundfos Foundation and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNHCR is working with health partners, including government, to strengthen the NCD capacity in Turkana County in northern Kenya.

WHO / Irene Gavieiro Agud
A health worker shows what five grams of salt looks like at a primary health care facility, raising awareness on healthy lifestyles among the Rohingya population, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
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Preventing NCDs, Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh

A health worker shows what 5 grams of salt looks like at a primary health care facility, raising awareness on healthy lifestyles among the Rohingya population, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. 

Read more about this work here.

WHO/ László Végh
Managing diabetes is a challenge when fleeing from the war in Ukraine. Ensuring access to insulin during emergencies saves lives.
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Managing diabetes while fleeing from war, Ukraine

Managing diabetes is a challenge when fleeing from the war in Ukraine. Ensuring access to insulin during emergencies saves lives.

Read more about Artur’s story here.

WHO /Panos / Andrew Esiebo
Man living with type 2 diabetes gets a prosthetic leg after an amputation in Lagos, Nigeria.
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Prosthetic leg after amputation, Lagos, Nigeria

Adeniran Muibi wears a prosthetic leg after an amputation due to type 2 diabetes. For regular health checkups, he visits the Rainbow Specialist Medical Center in Lekki, Lagos.The health centre runs a diabetes foot clinic, diabetes workshops, and a clinic for low-income diabetic patients.

WHO
A patient in Gaza is receiving dialysis treatment at Al-Najjar hospital in southern Gaza after being evacuated during a joint UN mission led by WHO in collaboration with the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
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A woman receives dialysis treatment, south Gaza

A patient in Gaza is receiving dialysis treatment at Al-Najjar hospital in southern Gaza after being evacuated during a joint UN mission led by WHO in collaboration with the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The mission included 151 patients, their relatives and health workers from northern Gaza.

WHO
Sameer is a 60 year old patient receiving his dialysis the Al-Sadaqa hospital in Aden, Yemen.
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A man receives dialysis treatment, Aden, Yemen

Sameer is a 60-year old patient receiving his dialysis at the Al-Sadaqa hospital in Aden, Yemen.

“Being a dialysis patient during this time in Yemen is agonizing. It is crucial that this support continues so we continue to have access to the sessions our lives depend on,” he says.

Read more about Sameer’s story here.

WHO / Marta Soszynska
Leilda receives her first dose of chemotherapy in the oncology ward of Kabul's Jumhuriat Hospital.
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Cancer care during the war, Ukraine

Eight-year-old Leonid and his mother Anna left Kyiv hospital in search of safety and treatment for childhood cancer. Hundreds of children with cancer in Ukraine have been forced to undertake dangerous journeys in the hope of accessing the treatments they need to survive.

WHO / Kiana Hayeri
Leilda receives her first dose of chemotherapy in the oncology ward of Kabul's Jumhuriat Hospital.
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A woman receives cancer treatment in Kabul, Afghanistan

Leilda receives her first dose of chemotherapy in the oncology ward of Kabul's Jumhuriat Hospital. This is the first and only dedicated cancer ward in the country, but its 90 beds and health workers are not sufficient to meet growing cancer care needs in Afghanistan.

WHO /Atem John Ajang
Health workers at Renk Hospital in South Sudan are undergoing training to use inhalers for the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases.
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Learning to use inhalers, Renk, South Sudan

Health workers at Renk Hospital in South Sudan are undergoing training to use inhalers for the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases. Renk Hospital serves as the primary referral centre for displaced persons arriving at transit health centres. The most common chronic respiratory diseases are asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is the third leading cause of death globally.

WHO/Tatiana Almeida
NCD kits delivered to Moheshkhali Island off Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
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WHO NCD kits, Moheshkhali Island, Bangladesh

NCD kits delivered to Moheshkhali Island off Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

WHO
WHO staff examines the NCD kit used in the Ukraine conflict at a warehouse.
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WHO NCD kits, Ukraine

WHO staff examines the NCD kit used in the Ukraine conflict at a warehouse.

WHO / Zakarya Safari
NCD kits arriving in Afghanistan. The delivery of essential package of health services is made possible by working with strong partners.
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WHO NCD kits arrive by plane, Afghanistan

NCD kits arriving in Afghanistan. The delivery of essential package of health services is made possible by working with strong partners.

WHO / Peter Louis Gume
WHO health supplies are provided to health partners for use in the health centre at the Joda-Renk transit site, South Sudan, for returnees and refugees from Sudan.
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Medicines for returnees and refugees, South Sudan

WHO health supplies are provided to health partners for use in the health centre at the Joda-Renk transit site, South Sudan, for returnees and refugees from Sudan.

WHO / Laura Sheahen
NCD kits arriving in Adana, Türkiye, to be shipped to northwest Türkiye where some health services have been disrupted by conflict.
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NCD kits arriving in Adana, Türkiye

NCD kits arriving in Adana, Türkiye, to be shipped to northwest Türkiye where some health services have been disrupted by conflict.

UNHCR / Sala Lewis
Charles, in the white gown, is a Congolese refugee and community health care worker in Nyankanda refugee camp in Burundi.
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Raising awareness of NCDs, Nyankanda refugee camp, Burundi

Charles, in the white gown, is a Congolese refugee and community health care worker in Nyankanda refugee camp in Burundi. He was very ill in the past and was diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2017. Now he volunteers for the camp’s newly established NCD clinic and helps raise awareness of NCDs, as he wishes to give back to the community.

WHO / Henitsoa Rafalia
WHO, national health authorities and partners deliver essential medical supplies to communities in Madagascar after the passage of tropical storm Ana and tropical cyclone Batsirai.
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Delivering NCD care after a cyclone, Madagascar

WHO, national health authorities, and partners deliver essential medical supplies to communities in Madagascar after the passage of tropical storm Ana and tropical cyclone Batsirai.

WHO / WPRO / Philippines
A community health worker providing lifestyle counselling and health information to elderly patients in San Joaquin, Iloilo Province.
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Preventing NCDs in the community, Iloilo Province, Philippines

A community health worker providing lifestyle counselling and health information to elderly patients in San Joaquin, Iloilo Province.

WHO / Martha Tadesse
Patient receives blood pressure measurements at a mobile clinic in Chifra, Afar, Ethiopia.
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Blood pressure check, mobile clinic, Afar, Ethiopia

A patient receives blood pressure measurements at a mobile clinic in Chifra, Afar, Ethiopia.

WHO / Philippe Metois
In the aftermath of the devastating Tropical Cyclone Harold in Vanuatu, a health worker prepares medicines at the clinic.
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Checking medicines after a cyclone, Vanuata

In the aftermath of the devastating Tropical Cyclone Harold in Vanuatu, a health worker prepares medicines at the clinic.

WHO / Peter Louis Gume
WHO and a health worker from the International Medical Corps (IMC) inspect medical supplies at a health centre located within the transit center for refugees and returnees from Sudan in Renk, South Sudan.
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Checking NCD medicines at a transit centre, Renk, South Sudan

WHO and a health worker from the International Medical Corps (IMC) inspect medical supplies at a health centre located within the transit centre for refugees and returnees from Sudan in Renk, South Sudan.

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