Highlights (1 week ago)
- Civilians have been killed and injured in ongoing fighting while attacks on infrastructure have left people without heat or water.
- Declaration of “Martial law” in Donetska, Khersonska, Luhanska and Zaporizka oblasts creates concern over access and movements for ci...vilians living in these areas.
- The humanitarian community continues to scale up winterization assistance as the cold season approaches.
- Humanitarian partners have delivered additional aid in retaken areas of Donetska, Kharkivska and Khersonska oblasts and in Dnipropetrovska oblast.
- 13.47 million people reached with humanitarian assistance and protection since February 2022.
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The risk of communicable diseases remains a humanitarian concern with major health risks including cholera, acute watery diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, malaria and other vector borne diseases and conditions such as severe acute malnutrition.
Access to the affected districts is still conditioned due t...o the destruction of roads, the telecommunications network and the interruption of electricity.
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For the past years, Haiti has been engulfed in a socioeconomic, political, and humanitarian crisis that has reached critical levels since mid-September 2022 with the intensification of gang violence and social unrest. The widespread insecurity and
political instability have drastically affected the... country’s access to essential goods and services, including food, water, and health. The current fuel supply crisis has affected the water and electricity supply to the population, health centers, and hospitals. Due to problems of insecurity and violence, patients and health personnel have difficulty accessing hospitals and health services.
In parallel, the public health system and international partners face limited response capacity due to reduced international personnel in Haiti, logistics issues, and difficulties in importing supplies. Indeed insecurity, roadblocks, and lockdowns are affecting the importation of internationally procured goods, which may slow the arrival of essential lifesaving supplies to support cholera response efforts. This scenario is particularly problematic, as cholera recently resurfaced in early October.
Armed gangs now control over 60% of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, affecting at least 1.5 million people, and have expanded their influence outside of the capital city, interrupting vital humanitarian programs in most of the national territory,
including COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
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Three billion people – 40 per cent of the world’s population – do not have a place in their homes to wash their hands with water and soap. Three quarters of those who lack access to water and soap live in the world’s poorest countries and are amongst the most vulnerable: children and familie...s living in informal settlements, migrant and refugee camps, or in areas of active conflict. This puts an estimated 1 billion people at immediate risk of COVID-19 simply because they lack basic handwashing facilities.
The Hand Hygiene for All initiative aims to move the world towards this goal: supporting the most vulnerable communities with the means to protect their health and environment. It brings together international partners, national governments, public and private sectors, and civil society to ensure affordable products and services are available, especially in disadvantaged areas, and to enable a culture of hygiene.
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The study on health facility preparedness for cholera outbreak response in Cameroon evaluates the ability of healthcare facilities in four cholera-prone districts to manage cholera outbreaks. The findings highlight significant weaknesses, including limited surveillance systems, inadequate access to ...water, poor sanitation, and lack of essential medical supplies such as Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) and cholera case management guidelines. Many health facilities also lacked trained personnel and proper waste disposal systems, increasing the risk of disease spread within healthcare centers. The study underscores the urgent need for improved hygiene infrastructure, better training, and resource allocation to enhance outbreak response and reduce cholera-related mortality.
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Food security, human health and wellbeing largely depend on biodiversity. Biodiversity supports agriculture through ecosystem services such as pollination and water purification, and provides access to natural medicines,
which are the primary source of health care for 4 billion people worldwide
This document will be continuously updated. Version as of April 27th, 2020
Migrant and displaced children are at heightened risk to the immediate and secondary impacts of COVID-19. They often live in cramped conditions with limited access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), may be in immig...ration detention or “left behind,” live with disabilities, unaccompanied or separated from their families, and can be hardest to reach with accurate information in a language they understand. Migrant workers and refugees can live in the most disadvantaged urban areas, where access to essential services is already limited. Refugee and migrant children may also be prevented from accessing essential services due to legal, documentation, linguistic or safety barriers. Further, the misinformation on the spread of COVID-19 exacerbates the xenophobia and discrimination that migrant and displaced children and their families already face.
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The National Integrated Comprehensive Cholera Prevention and Control Plan (2017-2022) outlines Uganda's strategy to reduce cholera cases and mortality by 50% by 2022. The plan focuses on improving access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), strengthening disease surveillance, enhancing ca...se management, and implementing oral cholera vaccination (OCV) in high-risk areas. It emphasizes multi-sectoral collaboration, involving government agencies, NGOs, and local communities to ensure a sustainable response. Key interventions include community engagement, improved health services, and better outbreak preparedness, aiming for long-term cholera elimination in Uganda.
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Hand washing is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But not everyone has access to running water at all times. The tippy tap is one simple and safe way to wash your hands that is especially designed for areas with no running water
Women, girls and marginalized groups who are largely dependent on natural resources for livelihoods are among the hardest hit by extreme weather patterns. These weather patterns limit their access to food, water, shelter, education and access to essential health services, including those that addres...s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender-based violence (GBV) and preventing harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation.
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Are you prepared? If a disaster strikes in your community, you might not have access to food, water, or electricity for several days. Preparing an emergency kit for your family is an important step in keeping them safe and healthy during an emergency.
The document provides guidelines for the prevention and control of cholera outbreaks. It focuses on key strategies such as improving access to safe drinking water, ensuring proper sanitation, and promoting hygiene practices to prevent the spread of the disease. The guidelines also emphasize the impo...rtance of early detection, prompt treatment with oral rehydration solutions (ORS) or intravenous fluids, and the strategic use of antibiotics in severe cases. Additionally, it discusses the role of community education and collaboration with health authorities to effectively manage cholera outbreaks.
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Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS) is a gynaecological disease caused by Schistosoma haematobium, a parasitic worm that is acquired by skin contact with freshwater contaminated by schistosome cerceriae. Communities in which the infection is most endemic have limited access to clean water and healt...hcare services. Up to 150 million adolescent girls and women are estimated to be at risk of FGS and about 16–56 milion womens are living with FGS, with the majority of these in sub-Saharan Africa. The variability of these estimates points to the fact that this neglected tropical disease is not well studied and frequently not prioritized by local, regional, and global health policy makers.
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For handwashing to be effective, it needs to be practiced consistently and thoroughly. Even when people have access to soap and water, and know how and why to wash their hands, many still do not properly wash their hands consistently at critical times. The handwashing behavior change challenge is no...t only to encourage people to wash their hands with soap, but to do so correctly and at all critical times.
Nudges are one example of a behavior change tool that can encourage people to wash their hands.
Although the evidence base for nudges is still emerging and nudges for handwashing have been tested primarily in single contexts or on a limited scale, this brief and infographic answer some frequently asked questions about nudges and provides examples of how they have been used in efforts to increase handwashing.
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Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are among the most common infections worldwide with an estimated 1.5 billion infected people or 24% of the world’s population. These infections affect the poorest and most deprived communities with poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene in tro...pical and subtropical areas, with the highest prevalence reported from sub-Saharan Africa, China, South America and Asia. They are transmitted by eggs present in human faeces, which in turn contaminate soil in areas where sanitation is poor. Over 260 million preschool-age children, 654 million school-age children,108 million adolescent girls and 138.8 million pregnant and lactating women live in areas where these parasites are intensively transmitted, and are in need of treatment and preventive interventions.
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The document provides guidelines for the prevention and control of cholera outbreaks. It focuses on key strategies such as improving access to safe drinking water, ensuring proper sanitation, and promoting hygiene practices to prevent the spread of the disease. The guidelines also emphasize the impo...rtance of early detection, prompt treatment with oral rehydration solutions (ORS) or intravenous fluids, and the strategic use of antibiotics in severe cases. Additionally, it discusses the role of community education and collaboration with health authorities to effectively manage cholera outbreaks.
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The document provides guidelines for the prevention and control of cholera outbreaks. It focuses on key strategies such as improving access to safe drinking water, ensuring proper sanitation, and promoting hygiene practices to prevent the spread of the disease. The guidelines also emphasize the impo...rtance of early detection, prompt treatment with oral rehydration solutions (ORS) or intravenous fluids, and the strategic use of antibiotics in severe cases. Additionally, it discusses the role of community education and collaboration with health authorities to effectively manage cholera outbreaks.
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According to the report:
More than 5,000 children have been killed or injured in the violence – an average of five children every day since March 2015.
More than 11 million children now need humanitarian assistance – nearly every child in Yemen.
More than half of the country’s ...children don’t have access to safe drinking water or adequate sanitation.
An estimated 1.8 million children are acutely malnourished, including nearly 400,000 severe acutely malnourished children who are fighting for their lives.
Nearly 2 million children are out of school, including almost half a million who dropped out since the conflict escalated in March 2015.
Suspected cholera and acute watery diarrhea have affected over 1 million people, with children under 5 years old accounting for a quarter of all cases.
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The document provides essential guidelines for preventing and managing acute diarrhoeal diseases, particularly in complex emergency situations such as conflicts, natural disasters, or health crises. It highlights the importance of access to safe drinking water, sanitation, personal hygiene, and the ...prompt treatment of patients using oral rehydration solutions (ORS). The text also emphasizes the need for coordination between local and international actors to ensure an effective and sustainable response.
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The document provides essential guidelines for managing cholera outbreaks. It includes instructions for preparing oral rehydration solutions (ORS) using simple ingredients like sugar and salt to treat dehydration caused by cholera. The text also emphasizes the importance of access to clean water, sa...nitation, and hygiene to prevent the spread of the disease. It is part of the World Health Organization's effort to provide clear, actionable steps for controlling cholera in affected areas.
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