WHO recognizes the impact achieved in 2023 thanks to donor support through the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Since its establishment in 2006, CERF has long been one of WHO's top partners in responding to health emergencies. It is the sixth largest contributor to the WHO's outbreak crisis response budget, receiving US$74 million in 2023. CERF's role is therefore essential to our pledge to better protect more than one billion people from health emergencies. This has not only enabled timely responses to health emergencies caused by earthquakes, cyclones, droughts and floods, cholera outbreaks, severe malnutrition, conflict, and displacement in more than 30 countries. , it is also helping to prevent crises and spread of infection due to the increasing number of health emergencies in countries. Ready.
From giving opportunities to severely malnourished children and curbing the spread of disease to providing health services to people affected by natural disasters, we are working in Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Colombia and Sudan. Here are some of the WHO's success stories. Contact CERF Support.
Yemen: Giving severely malnourished children a fighting chance
Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) tape is used to measure cases of malnutrition at the Therapeutic Nutrition Center of Jumhuri Hospital in Hajjah, Yemen.Credit: WHO/Komura
Since the beginning of the armed conflict in Yemen, an estimated 10,200 children have been killed or injured as a direct result of hostilities. The majority of children under the age of five in Yemen are highly likely to suffer from the effects of armed conflict and lack of basic services in their first years of life. The number of medical workers is already well below the WHO global standard (12 per 10,000 people compared to the standard of 20 per 10,000 people), and 37% of functioning hospitals in the country lack specialists. Yemen's existing vulnerabilities are exacerbated by the ongoing conflict. in a severely weakened medical system. CERF support helps WHO give thousands of malnourished children a chance to live by ensuring the functioning and operation of health facilities through financial incentives and medical and non-medical supplies. .
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Somalia: CERF support saves the lives of the majority of children in WHO-supported stabilization centers
Somalia's Federal Ministry of Health, with support from WHO-CERF, has established outreach camps for flood-affected communities across Jubaland and Hirshabelle states.Credit: WHO Somalia/A. Mustaf
After El Niño-induced flash floods in November 2023, 500,000 people were evacuated across Jubaland and Hirshabelle provinces, and more than 1.17 million people were affected by floods, WHO said the federal and state ministries of health We helped prevent large-scale disease outbreaks. By the end of January 2024, outreach teams were able to reach 163,880 people, including 4,148 pregnant women, in the worst-hit districts of both states. They conducted 93,416 outpatient consultations, administered 23,145 vaccinations and referred 5,418 people with serious illness to more specialized care. Aid teams identified approximately 5,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition and referred them to treatment and stabilization centres.
“Of the patients admitted to these centres, 95.9% have been cured,” said WHO Incident Manager Dr Ifeanyi Okudo.
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Ethiopia: Providing medical services to drought-affected Ethiopians
A mother stands in front of a portrait with her two-year-old son Yoso, whom she took for a medical check-up from the mobile health and nutrition team at the El Tomare site in Chifra, Afar region. WHO/Martha Tadesse
Around 24 million people in southern and southeastern Ethiopia are suffering from severe food insecurity, malnutrition and extreme poverty after five consecutive seasons of no rain. Since the beginning of 2022, the number of people allocated to humanitarian assistance has almost tripled.
Related to these droughts, the country experienced simultaneous outbreaks of multiple diseases in 2023, including cholera, measles, suspected meningitis, and malaria. With financial support from CERF and other partners, WHO is leading mobile health units and nutrition teams to provide critical health assistance and treat malnutrition to avert extreme situations and particularly reduce malnutrition and disease. The combination of the following reduced the potential loss of life for children. Deadly.
“While much is being done, there remain significant challenges to a strong response due to significant funding gaps,” said Dr. Betty Raniello, WHO's Ethiopia Drought Response Incident Manager.
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Madagascar: Mobile clinic increases health surveillance during cyclone
Trained medical professionals travel from village to village with medical equipment by car, motorbike, dugout canoe, or on foot, delivering it to patients.Credit: WHO Madagascar/Flora Dominique
After Cyclone Batsirai and Cyclone Emnati hit Madagascar's southeastern region in February 2022, access to health centers became an unaffordable luxury for many. Thanks to the support of partners, WHO was able to restore many of the destroyed health centers. Thanks to CERF, WHO was also able to support the deployment of mobile clinics to provide access to therapeutic health services to approximately 1 million people in places where there are no functioning health facilities. These clinics will not only strengthen epidemiological surveillance and detect and report cases of vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio and measles, cases of maternal mortality and gender-based violence, but will also enable vaccinations for many children. Vaccination was also promoted. Because medical care was unavailable after the cyclone, she was unable to receive routine vaccinations.
CERF support has also enabled targeted training to deal with future emergencies and build more resilient health systems. As a result, no outbreaks of diseases such as cholera were recorded in the country despite heavy rains and large-scale flooding caused by Cyclone Freddie in 2023.
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Ethiopia: Health advocates help curb cholera spread
Children carry water from a river into jerry cans in the cholera-infested Konso region of Ethiopia's SNNP region.Credit: WHO Ethiopia/Mulugeta Ayene
One year after the first cholera case in Ethiopia in August 2022, the disease has spread to 10 of the country's 13 regions. With WHO assistance, the number of new infections has significantly decreased in two of the three worst-hit regions, and the Somali region has been able to successfully contain the spread of infection. At the forefront of the response was an “army” of health advocates who modeled good home hygiene practices within their communities. With the support of CERF and other partners, WHO can provide these health advocates with the information they need to raise awareness about health practices that prevent cholera and drive positive behavior change in their communities. I did.
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Colombia: the fight for health
Credit: WHO PAHO/Karen Gonzalez Abril
Thanks to CERF, WHO and UN agencies are working to address the health needs of vulnerable populations in Colombia's conflict-affected areas in a holistic way. Thanks to the deployment of health teams, WHO is working with hard-to-reach, remote and displaced communities to identify local solutions and ensure access to health for all.
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Sudan: CERF supports 21 mobile clinics to help restore health and hope to displaced people
Mobile clinic is up and running.Credit: WHO/Sudan
The outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023 has plunged the country into a complex humanitarian crisis. Millions of people are fleeing for their lives, abandoning their homes and livelihoods, exposing themselves to the spread of disease, lack of food and safe drinking water, and increased risks of gender-based violence, especially against women and girls. With an estimated 4.4 million people at risk of gender-based violence due to conflict, WHO, alongside CERF, has committed to deploying mobile clinics in eight provinces across the country to provide essential primary health care. Supported.
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WHO thanks all governments, organizations and individuals who jointly make flexible contributions to OCHA's CERF and Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPF). Through its contributions, CBPF supports WHO's work to protect the most vulnerable by strengthening and promoting access to health in emergencies. .
