PROMOTE HEALTH, KEEP THE WORLD SAFE, SERVE THE VULNERABLE

On 20 September 2022, a mobile team provides nutrition screening and other health services under a the shade of a tree in Korr, Marsabit. Millions in the greater Horn of Africa are facing acute hunger as the region faces one of the worst droughts in recent decades. M any people have left their homes in search of food and water, and pasture for animals. Large-scale displacement is often accompanied by a deterioration in hygiene and sanitation. Outbreaks of infectious diseases are a major concern, especially when combined with low existing vaccination coverage and health service availability.  As people become increasingly food insecure, they also must make the impossible choice between food and healthcare, even as nutritional deficiencies make them increasingly vulnerable to disease. This is particularly true for children, for whom the combination of malnutrition and disease can prove fatal.   WHO and partners are working to counter the consequences of malnutrition, respond to disease outbreaks, and ensure that essential health services can continue. On 20 September 2022, a mobile team provides nutrition screening and other health services under a the shade of a tree in Korr, Marsabit. Millions in the greater Horn of Africa are facing acute hunger as the region faces one of the worst droughts in recent decades. M any people have left their homes in search of food and water, and pasture for animals. Large-scale displacement is often accompanied by a deterioration in hygiene and sanitation. Outbreaks of infectious diseases are a major concern, especially when combined with low existing vaccination coverage and health service availability.  As people become increasingly food insecure, they also must make the impossible choice between food and healthcare, even as nutritional deficiencies make them increasingly vulnerable to disease. This is particularly true for children, for whom the combination of malnutrition and disease can prove fatal.   WHO and partners are working to counter the consequences of malnutrition, respond to disease outbreaks, and ensure that essential health services can continue. 

ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

On 14 February 2022, Mrs Martine Ravao, 67, is accommodated at a temporary shelter in Ampasimandrorona district after her house was destroyed by tropical cyclone Batsirai. Because the of the rooms in the shelter were already full she and her family had to sleep on the terrace. Since January 2022, multiple extreme weather events have damaged homes and public infrastructure in Madagascar, resulted in the death of over 200 people, and left over 650,000 people without access to health care. WHO has been working with national health authorities and partners to respond, including by delivering essential medical supplies and sending experts to the affected areas.On 14 February 2022, Mrs Martine Ravao, 67, is accommodated at a temporary shelter in Ampasimandrorona district after her house was destroyed by tropical cyclone Batsirai. Because the of the rooms in the shelter were already full she and her family had to sleep on the terrace. Since January 2022, multiple extreme weather events have damaged homes and public infrastructure in Madagascar, resulted in the death of over 200 people, and left over 650,000 people without access to health care. WHO has been working with national health authorities and partners to respond, including by delivering essential medical supplies and sending experts to the affected areas.

ADDRESSING HEALTH EMERGENCIES

Sisters Violeta, 20 (right), and Alina, 14 (left), sit in their room at a refugee center in Chișinău, Moldova on 23 June 2022. They arrived at the centre with their mother from Nikolaev, Ukraine, in May 2022. Specialists from Neovita work with refugees at the centre.  The National Resource Centre YK Neovita is one of the first youth-friendly clinics that was launched in Moldova in 2002. It offers a multidisciplinary team of specialists, including obstetricians and gynecologists, urologists and andrologists, dermatovenereologist, HIV consultants, midwives, psychologists, social workers as well as young volunteers.Sisters Violeta, 20 (right), and Alina, 14 (left), sit in their room at a refugee center in Chișinău, Moldova on 23 June 2022. They arrived at the centre with their mother from Nikolaev, Ukraine, in May 2022. Specialists from Neovita work with refugees at the centre.  The National Resource Centre YK Neovita is one of the first youth-friendly clinics that was launched in Moldova in 2002. It offers a multidisciplinary team of specialists, including obstetricians and gynecologists, urologists and andrologists, dermatovenereologist, HIV consultants, midwives, psychologists, social workers as well as young volunteers.

PROMOTING HEALTHIER POPULATIONS

On 14 March 2023, WHO medical entomologist Syed Baseer Ahmed gives a mosquito net to Shagufta during a door-to-door campaign for malaria treatment and prevention in Sohbatpur, Balochistan. The 2022 floods resulted in the worst malaria outbreak in Pakistan since 1973. In response, international health organizations such as WHO and the Global Fund came together with local governments and NGOs to combat the malaria outbreak and help address the extraordinary scale of need. The response drew on both the oldest and newest interventions in the anti-malaria tool kit. In the makeshift refugee camps, nets were distributed, tents (and what houses remained) were sprayed with insecticides, and mass drug administration campaigns were conducted to quickly treat as many people as possible.   Related: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/It-was-just-the-perfect-storm-for-malaria-pakistan-responds-to-surge-in-cases-following-the-2022-floodsOn 14 March 2023, WHO medical entomologist Syed Baseer Ahmed gives a mosquito net to Shagufta during a door-to-door campaign for malaria treatment and prevention in Sohbatpur, Balochistan. The 2022 floods resulted in the worst malaria outbreak in Pakistan since 1973. In response, international health organizations such as WHO and the Global Fund came together with local governments and NGOs to combat the malaria outbreak and help address the extraordinary scale of need. The response drew on both the oldest and newest interventions in the anti-malaria tool kit. In the makeshift refugee camps, nets were distributed, tents (and what houses remained) were sprayed with insecticides, and mass drug administration campaigns were conducted to quickly treat as many people as possible.   Related: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/It-was-just-the-perfect-storm-for-malaria-pakistan-responds-to-surge-in-cases-following-the-2022-floods

WHO SUPPORT TO COUNTRIES