WHO is stepping up its operations in East Africa as the region faces severe food insecurity caused by conflict, extreme weather events - including the worst drought in 40 years - induced by climate change, rising prices. food and fuel markets and the impact of the pandemic.
Over 80 million people in the East African region are food insecure and resort to desperate measures to feed themselves and their families. Acute malnutrition is high, especially among children.
As malnutrition increases, health needs in the region increase, especially among children, and drinking water is becoming scarce. When people leave their homes in search of food, they no longer have access to health services and become more at risk of epidemics.
The cost of inaction is high, "said Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO Deputy Director-General for Emergency Response." While the clear priority is to prevent people from starving, we must simultaneously strengthen our health response to prevent disease and save lives. Even a life lost due to a vaccine-preventable disease, diarrhea or medical complications from malnutrition in today's world is one life too many. "
Dr. Fall was speaking in Nairobi, where WHO convened a two-day meeting [June 26-27, 2022] to plan his response in the seven countries affected by the health emergency - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan , Sudan and Uganda - and coordinate with other UN agencies and partners.
WHO's emergency response focuses on ensuring that affected populations have access to essential health services, treating sick children with severe malnutrition, and preventing, detecting and responding to infectious disease outbreaks.
WHO is setting up a hub in Nairobi, from where it will coordinate the response and organize the delivery of life-saving medical supplies where they are most needed. These supplies include medicines, vaccines, as well as the medicines and equipment needed to treat severely malnourished children. In addition to providing these critical supplies, WHO is working with ministries of health in affected countries to establish robust disease surveillance systems that can quickly detect and respond to outbreaks.
Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed in the region, a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years. The latest forecasts suggest that there is now a real risk that the next rainy season could also fail (source: WMO).
Over 80 million people in the East African region are food insecure (source: WFP), where they have to resort to desperate measures to feed themselves and their families.
The situation is particularly urgent in the drought-affected areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, where lack of food means that around 7 million children are malnourished, of which over 1.7 million are severely malnourished (source: Unicef). Severe acute malnutrition is a life-threatening condition that requires urgent treatment.
Different countries are affected differently. For example, in Uganda the problem is concentrated in the north-eastern region, while in South Sudan over 60% of the population is facing a hunger crisis.
All seven countries (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda) are facing measles and cholera outbreaks.
All seven countries are endemic to malaria. Children are disproportionately affected by malaria, with 80% of malaria deaths in the African region among those under the age of 5.
Four countries - Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda - are facing outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis, a serious and potentially fatal bacterial infection.
This region has experienced years of conflict and displacement. 4.2 million people in the region are refugees and another 11.1 million are internally displaced (source: UNHCR).
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