Editorial
This month's Highlights includes an update on the cholera outbreak in Haiti and in the neighbouring Dominican Republic and a review of the latest information on WHO's emergency operations in the crises in Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan and Yemen. This edition also presents the French and Spanish versions of the manual Analysing disrupted health sectors, provides information on the next Public Health Pre-Deployment Course scheduled for September and gives a brief update on the 17th World Congress in Disaster and Emergency Medicine.
Activities in countries
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Haiti: fighting the rise in cholera cases
The number of cholera cases reported in May and early June rose partly due to the beginning of the rainy season., Whereas many NGOs are scaling down operations in rural areas, WHO/PAHO is asking partners to consider keeping staff and facilities in place, and international donors to continue their support for these activities. Poor access to clean water and proper sanitation remains the main challenge in fighting the epidemic.
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Côte d’Ivoire: ensuring disease surveillance and responding to outbreaks
Since May, the disease surveillance system set up in Bouaké, Abidjan and Duékoué has alerted health partners to outbreaks of measles, polio and cholera. WHO is providing financial and technical support for the surveillance system which also cover meningitis and haemorrhagic fever and monitors occurrences of sexual violence. WHO is looking into ways of extending the network to other regions.
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South Kordofan and Abyei: ensuring the provision of health services despite the crises
Insecurity and movement restrictions limit humanitarian access in many parts of South Kordofan. In Kadugli and Abyei, humanitarian partners are ensuring the provision of health care. Between 7 and 18 June, the two health facilities serving IDPs around the UNMIS base recorded almost 9300 consultations, of which 60% were for children under five. The main complaints were diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections.
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Yemen: growing needs for emergency life-saving health care
Increasing numbers of people are fleeing Abyan Governorate where the humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly. Between 7 April and 15 June, 742 diarrhoea cases were reported in Abyan but the disruption of public health programmes is making the task of controlling the outbreak very difficult. WHO is supporting community health volunteers in Abyan to reach the population in the affected areas.
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Somalia: high numbers of wounded children in latest outbreak of violence
The number of children under five who have been wounded in Somalia’s latest outbreak of violence is rising steeply. While the number of patients treated for weapon-related injuries at Mogadishu’s three main hospitals reached a new peak in May, almost half the 1590 injuries reported were in children under five.
Other news
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Analysing disrupted health sectors - a modular manual
The manual Analysing disrupted health sectors, developed by Health Action in Crises provides practical and action-oriented guidance to public health professionals. It is conceived as a set of thematic, self-contained and interrelated modules. Each offers practical advice, experiences from the field, tools, references and suggestions for further study. The manual is now also available in French and in Spanish.
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Seventh public health pre-deployment course (PHPD), 26 September - 7 October 2011, Hammamet, Tunisia
The next course will take place in September at the WHO Mediterranean Centre for Health Risk Reduction in Hammamet. This two-week residential course organized by WHO prepares professionals and humanitarian aid workers to respond better to emergencies. It is delivered by experienced humanitarian and public health experts from WHO, academic and technical institutions as well as non-governmental organizations. The course will also be organized in French late September-early October.
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World congress in disaster and emergency medicine, 31 May - 3 June 2011, Beijing, China
WHO, represented by its Country Office in China, the Regional Offices for Europe and for the Americas as well as by Health Security and Environment and Health Action in Crises in Geneva, participated in the 17th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine in Beijing.