Category: Human Services

In the greater Horn of Africa, famine is looming at the doorstep of many households. Over 80 million people in this region — which comprises Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda — lack access to food that would meet their basic needs along with safe water. More than 37 million of these people have reached crossroads in their lives where they have had to sell their possessions to feed themselves and their families.

In this dire situation, the risk of morbidity and mortality due to outbreak-prone diseases comes in tandem with forced displacement. This is set against a backdrop of limited access to essential and primary health care interventions across the entire region. Each day, the most vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and displaced people, are facing growing threats of being infected with communicable diseases.

Outbreaks in the Region

The drought has exacerbated disease outbreaks in the Horn of Africa, a region that is constantly facing other emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic currently. Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda are experiencing measles outbreaks, while Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan are witnessing cholera outbreaks.

The countries also have high rates of severe acute malnutrition among children under 5 years old, all of which increase the risk of morbidity and mortality among displaced and vulnerable populations. Unless a coordinated response effort is implemented, health risks will keep escalating and spreading within and beyond the region.

Charting out plans for stronger collaboration

To continue to deter these severe health consequences of the drought in a coordinated manner in the greater Horn of Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a meeting from 26 to 27 June 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya, for the organization’s senior specialists and officials. These experts included Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response, the WHO Representatives from the 7 countries of the region, and other technical expertise.

The participants set out to brainstorm ways to mount a stronger and coherent health response. They considered joint measures to improve primary health care interventions, including in the delivery of essential health services, nutrition support and immunization, communication and resource mobilization, and regional, inter-agency, and partner coordination. They also discussed the alignment of response plans, and health intelligence and information products and systems. After finalizing the Contingency Fund for Emergencies, an emergency fund run by WHO, the country teams also agreed on a series of next steps to take to advance recommended action. Coordinating information management in the Region

As next steps, the information management teams from all 7 countries, and representatives from the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Regional Offfice for the Eastern Mediterranean and headquarters convened a meeting in Kenya from 25 to 27 July 2022. The team aimed to understand and document the information and data landscape across the region. They also discussed ways to enhance coordination using 4 health information management pathways — products, processes, people and tools — and the need for monitoring and evaluation, including on indicators related to nutrition, which is closely linked to health, and primary health care.

Following an analysis of all the different information collection tools and siloed, donor-driven individual disease management systems in the 7 countries, the participants agreed on the need to integrate health information management assets in the countries into a single cohesive integrated system.

In conclusion, the team agreed to create a joint situation report every month — that combines an epidemiological bulletin, known as the EPI watch, and a visually appealing infographic on the drought situation. They also agreed to create a general dashboard that shows drought response activities for each of the 7 countries. It will present information on malaria activities, cholera, interventions by community health workers, outreach interventions, and severe acute malnutrition stabilization centres in drought-affected areas.

Regional and country appeals for support

To scale up the response to the situation in the greater Horn of Africa, on 2 August 2022, WHO launched an appeal for US$ 123.7 million. The response will focus on 5 pillars: coordination and collaboration; surveillance and information; outbreak prevention and control; essential nutrition actions; and essential health services.

In Somalia, WHO launched an emergency health response plan for the ongoing drought in May 2022. With an ask of US$ 35 million until the end of 2022, the plan aims to strengthen disease surveillance, integrate nutrition programmes horizontally into health service delivery, and ensure adequate coverage levels of measles and polio vaccination, including vitamin A and deworming. Additionally, the plan will ensure the delivery of essential package of health services with nutrition and mental health and psychosocial support integrated in activities. To cater for the needs of young children and women, the response would also address integrated management of childhood illnesses and reproductive health.

“Since early last year, in Somalia, our urgent attention has focused on anticipating and averting severe health consequences of drought. We advocated for early action for the drought response to avoid regret, and for flexible and urgent funding to support our efforts. Since then, we have left no stone unturned to work towards preventing avoidable morbidity and mortality linked to epidemic-prone diseases, caused by limited access to safe water, food, proper sanitation and hygiene. In many ways, we have managed to avert large-scale losses of life, but even one life lost is too many,” said Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia.

Partnerships at WHO levels and with donors saving lives

Commenting on the extraordinary efforts to improve partnerships within WHO, Dr Malik, the WHO Somalia Head of Mission said, “Across the greater Horn of Africa, WHO is ramping up its response, improving coordination, and streamlining existing efforts and optimizing on resources to ensure we reach more people with life-saving support. With one million displaced Somalis, we have one million and more reasons to redouble our efforts and extend additional support to affected families.”

He added that the support from partners such as the European Union (EU) Delegation to Somalia, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of Somalia, donors contributing to the Contingency Fund for Emergencies, and Gavi – the Vaccine Alliance, WHO has already been able to impact the lives of some of the hardest hit people.

Source: World Health Organization

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday that very few people in the United States have received a full series of monkeypox vaccinations.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the large majority of Americans who received a first dose of the vaccine have yet to get their second dose, despite being eligible.

She told a White House briefing Friday that nearly 97% of the inoculations administered so far have been first doses.

Walensky said that while the vaccine was initially hard to get, supplies have now increased.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed for the vaccine to be injected in smaller doses to help stretch supplies.

The Biden administration says it has shipped enough vaccines to jurisdictions around the United States for at least 1.6 million doses.

CDC data show that about 10% of monkeypox vaccine doses have been given to Black people despite the fact that they account for one-third of U.S. cases.

The rate was compiled from 17 U.S. states and two cities.

Walensky said the CDC has taken measures to make the vaccine more accessible to Blacks and other minorities. She said vaccines and educational materials will be available at two upcoming events — Atlanta’s Black Pride festival and New Orleans’ Southern Decadence.

Walensky said the agency is starting to roll out such pilot projects and that “they are working.”

Most cases of monkeypox in the United States have occurred in gay men, but health officials have stressed that anyone can catch the virus.

More than 16,000 people have been infected with the virus in the United States, more than in any other country.

Walensky noted that the spread of the virus is falling in several major U.S. cities.

“We’re watching this with cautious optimism, and really hopeful that many of our harm-reduction messages and our vaccines are getting out there and working,” she said.

Across the United States, cases of monkeypox are still increasing. However, officials say the pace of the outbreak appears to be slowing.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization said global cases of monkeypox dropped 21% in the past week.

The WHO said cases appeared to be slowing in Europe but warned that infections in the Americas were on “a continuing steep rise.”

“In Latin America in particular, insufficient awareness or public health measures are combining with a lack of access to vaccines to fan the flames of the outbreak,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing.

Monkeypox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades, but since May, cases have been reported around the world.

The virus is typically spread by skin-to-skin contact with an infected person’s lesions. It can also be spread through contact with an infected person’s clothing or sheets.

Source: Voice of America

GENEVA— Monkeypox cases fell by a fifth last week as infections in Europe dropped but the outbreak is going through “intense transmission” in the Americas, the World Health Organization said.

The WHO sounded the alarm for Latin America in particular, pointing to a lack of awareness and public health measures to control the spread of the virus.

A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the African countries where it has long been endemic.

The WHO triggered its highest level of alarm on July 24, classifying it as a public health emergency of international concern, alongside COVID-19.

There have been 45,355 cases and 15 deaths this year, across at least 96 countries, according to the WHO’s dashboard.

After four consecutive weeks of increase, the number of monkeypox cases newly reported dropped by 21 per cent last week compared to the previous seven days, from 5,907 to 5,213.

“In the early stages of the outbreak, most reported cases were in Europe, with a smaller proportion in the Americas,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.

“That has now reversed, with less than 40 per cent of reported cases in Europe and 60 per cent in the Americas,” which is going through a steep rise, he said.

“There are signs that the outbreak is slowing in Europe, where a combination of effective public health measures, behaviour change and vaccination are helping to prevent transmission.

“However, in Latin America in particular, insufficient awareness or public health measures are combining with a lack of access to vaccines to fan the flames of the outbreak.”

The countries with more than a thousand cases are the United States (15,877), Spain (6,284), Brazil (3,984), Germany (3,387), Britain (3,340), France (2,889), Peru (1,207), Canada (1,206) and the Netherlands (1,136).

According to the WHO’s latest situation report issued on Thursday, some 23 countries reported an increase in the weekly number of cases. Iran and Indonesia reported their first cases in the past seven days.

Sixteen countries have not reported new cases for more than 21 days, the maximum incubation period of the disease.

Among cases with sexual orientation reported, 96 per cent identified as men who had sex with men. The median age of cases was 36.

A sexual encounter was the most commonly reported type of transmission, at 82 per cent.

“The majority of cases were likely exposed in a party setting with sexual contacts,” said the WHO.

Among cases with known HIV status, 45 per cent are HIV positive, it added.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Health ministers attending the World Health Organization’s 72nd Regional Committee for Africa in Lome, Togo have approved an eight-year strategy aimed at curbing disease and responding quickly to health emergencies.

More than 400 people participated from 47 countries, including about 30 health ministers, who attended the top annual health gathering in person, while others joined online.

After a week of discussions about some of Africa’s most pressing health issues, countries adopted a new strategy for creating more resilient public health systems for responding to infectious and chronic diseases, such as diabetes. The World Health Organization says early diagnosis and care could save the lives of many of the millions who die from the diseases.

The plan also commits countries to reach critical targets by 2030 to strengthen their ability to prepare, detect, and respond to health emergencies.

The WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, says the ministers also have launched a new campaign to curb sickle cell disease. She notes it is one of the most common, yet least recognized illnesses in the region. However, like childhood tuberculosis, she says it has been pushed to the sidelines for far too long.

“As we have seen with COVID-19, the impact of sickle cell disease extends well beyond health, posing significant economic and social costs for patients and their families. We cannot afford to continue ignoring the threat, so greater investments, and stronger collaboration and partnerships, need to be prioritized,” said Moeti. “Childhood TB also does not typically receive much attention, even though one in every three TB cases among children globally occurs in our region.”

She says both require timely diagnosis and treatment, as do other diseases, such as monkeypox, that go largely ignored until they make headlines elsewhere.

Currently, she says 406 cases and seven deaths have been confirmed across 11 African countries. While these are far fewer cases compared to other geographic regions, she says there is a need to increase the response.

She notes there is a shortage of monkeypox vaccine and whatever is available is being used in wealthier countries, where the epidemic is raging. She says no monkeypox vaccines or antivirals are available in African countries.

“We are making a plea that the situation that African countries have experienced with COVID-19 vaccines should not be repeated. And we are still hopeful that with advocacy being carried out and the discussions with countries that are helping to produce the vaccines that we may obtain vaccine supplies for African countries. This is not the case up to today,” Moeti said.

Moeti says there is better news regarding COVID-19 coverage. She notes vaccination rates are going up among health workers, older people, and those at risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death. While there is still much to be done, Moeti says she believes it is possible for African countries to catch up with the rest of the world.

Source: Voice of America

Ethiopia’s government has joined the World Food Program in condemning Tigrayan forces for allegedly stealing more than half-a-million liters of fuel meant for delivering food aid.

David Beasley, head of the U.N.’s World Food Program, said Thursday on Twitter that Tigrayan forces stole 570,000 liters designated for humanitarian aid distribution in Ethiopia’s embattled region of Tigray.

The government demanded in a statement that the fuel be returned and the international humanitarian community take action against the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF. The government has been fighting the TPLF for nearly two years.

The news comes after a five-month-old cease-fire came to an end Wednesday, with the government and TPLF blaming each other for a new offensive in the north of the country.

Tigray has been under a humanitarian blockade for around eight months. Humanitarian organizations say parts of the region are likely in a state of famine due to a lack of aid, the distribution of which is exacerbated by fuel shortages.

Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor at Oslo New University College and an expert on the Ethiopian conflict, said on Twitter that a U.N. situation report stated the fuel had been loaned from Tigray authorities and claimed, therefore, that the TPLF was within its rights to take the fuel.

A TPLF spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Source: Voice of America

The number of coronavirus deaths reported worldwide fell by 15% in the past week while new infections dropped by 9%, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

In its latest weekly assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. health agency said there were 5.3 million new cases and more than 14,000 deaths reported last week. WHO said the number of new infections declined in every world region except the Western Pacific.

Deaths jumped by more than 183% in Africa but fell by nearly a third in Europe and by 15% in the Americas. Still, WHO warned that COVID-19 numbers are likely severely underestimated as many countries have dropped their testing and surveillance protocols to monitor the virus, meaning that there are far fewer cases being detected.

WHO said the predominant COVID-19 variant worldwide is omicron subvariant BA.5, which accounts for more than 70% of virus sequences shared with the world’s biggest public viral database. Omicron variants account for 99% of all sequences reported in the last month.

Earlier this week, Pfizer asked U.S. regulators to authorize its combination COVID-19 vaccine that adds protection against the newest omicron relatives, BA.4 and BA.5, a key step towards opening a fall booster campaign.

The Food and Drug Administration had ordered vaccine makers to tweak their shots to target BA.4 and BA.5, which are better than ever at dodging immunity from earlier vaccination or infection.

Meanwhile, in the U.K., regulators authorized a version of Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine last week that includes protection against the earlier omicron subvariant BA.1. British officials will offer it to people aged 50 and over beginning next month.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet approved legislation Wednesday that ensures basic protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic are continued during the fall and winter, when more virus cases are expected.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to primary and secondary schools across the country on Monday for their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns.

Officials had grappled with daunting problems, including classroom shortages, lingering COVID-19 fears, an approaching storm and quake-damaged school buildings in the country’s north, to welcome back nearly 28 million students who enrolled for the school year.

Source: Voice of America