1. Humanitarian situation

Transcription

1 Office for the Republic of South Sudan SOUTH SUDAN 1. Humanitarian situation HIGHLIGHTS 1. The security situation in the country remained stable this week with limited incidences of clashes between Rebel Militia Groups and Sudan People s Liberation Army. This resulted in the displacement of civilians in Kotshar village, Gumuruk payam in Pibor County. The numbers of persons displaced is yet to be confirmed. 2. The refugee influx in to Maban and Yida counties continued this week. This has had a huge burden on the welfare and health status of these people and the host community. To date 175,000 refugees have been registered in Maban and Yida counties with new arrivals reported to have entered the counties this reporting weeks. The relocation of refugees from Jamam to Gendrassa is ongoing with 900 people being registered per week. Those previously displaced during the flooding in Doro camp are slowly returning. According to UNHCR and the county officials, the security is reported to be good and tension between the refugee and host communities is gradually reducing. 3. Seasonal flooding has continued affecting an estimated 260,000 people in 39 counties across South Sudan. The most affected states are Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Jonglei, Lakes, Unity, Upper Nile and Warrap. 4. Of the 110, 000 people intially displaced in Abyei, the majority have remained in the camps even if the conditions in the areas of origin have greatly improved. Accordning to UN OCHA, Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from Abiyei who had initially settled in Agok area are gradually returning. As of week 41, a total of 14,000 individuals had returned to the northern part of Abyei and Abyei town. An estimated 35,000 IDPs are still residing in Agok area. 5. This week, 878 returnees were tracked to their final destination. They continued receiving emergency services from various clusters. Although the return process has slowed down, over 126,000 persons have so far returned to South Sudan since the beginning of the year. WHO staff together with other partners and staff from the state ministry of health verify of a suspected case of AFP during an health assessment in the flood affected Cuebet County Community meeting with the people affecting f During the week, WHO; 1. Facilitated the peer review for the Consolidated Appeal Process for the Health Cluster. 2. Conducted a health assessment in Cuebet County to assess the health situation of the affected population and level of health services following flooding in the county. 3. Backstopped the SMOH of Unity state (Mayendit and Panyang Primary Health Care Centres) with 2 Basic Kits enough to manage 2000 people for three months period. 4. Conducted an outbreak verification mission to Eastern Equatoria State (EES) to assess the community following reports of measles outbreak 1

2 Office for the Republic of South Sudan SOUTH SUDAN 2. Public Health threats and concerns 1. During the week, shortage of anti-malaria drugs was reported as a concern in the country. This follows reports of persistent shortages of drugs at various health facilities despite responses from health partners and the National Malaria Control Program. 2. In Maban County, access to safe water and sanitation facilities in the host community remains a challenge due to the practice of open defecation. Safe water sources are however fairly available in Bunj Payam, the County headquarters compared to other Payams hence a risk factor for potential water borne disease outbreak. 3. Insecurity continued to restrict access to conflict displaced populations in Jonglei State of Pibor. This has greatly impacted on the populations accessibility to health services. 4. Measles remains a public health concern in most of the states. During this reporting period, cluster cases of measles (19) were reported in Eastern Equatoria state. However, no associated death were recorded in the affected area, while in Warrap state one suspected AFP case was reported and a detailed case investigation conducted. In Western Bahr el Ghazal one case of AFP and measles were detected and reported from Kuajena Primary Health Care Unit, Kajena payam Wau County. 3. Coordination, Emergency Preparedness and Response 1. During this week, WHO facilitated the health cluster to complete a peer review process for the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) projects. A total of 34 projects were reviewed and 31 recommended for inclusion in to the CAP The total budget for all the projects is estimated at 91,291,042. The table below shows the tentative and preliminary outcome of the review process. Category Number of projects Total Budget High priority projects 10 45,189,819 Medium priority 10 25,849,043 Low priority 11 20,252,180 Total 31 91,291,042 2

3 SOUTH SUDAN Office for the Republic of South Sudan This year, the cluster will focus on three cluster objectives, namely; maintain existing health service delivery by providing basic health packages and emergency referral services, strengthening emergency preparedness including trauma management and responding to health related emergencies, including control of the spread of communicable diseases. All the recommended CAP projects will contribute to achieving the health cluster objectives. 2. Together with the rapid response team of EES, WHO conducted an outbreak investigation mission to Torit County to verify a suspected outbreak of measles. This follows a rumor of 19 suspected cases of a febrile illnesses presenting with a body rash in the village of Torit. All the suspected cases were line listed and specimen collected and sent for further analysis. Not all the 19 patients could offer specimen as they were not positive about letting their samples be collected. Assorted antibiotics and painkillers to support the management of the suspected cases were donated to the community health workers to manage any other new cases. Surveillance has been enhanced and community active case search for the new cases meeting the case definition criteria for suspected measles is being carried out in the affected payam. WHO and the state ministry of health team conduct a community sensitization following rumors of suspected measles outbreak in Torit county. 3. In Lakes State, WHO conducted a health assessment as part of the interagency assessment for the flood response in Cuebet County. This follows reports of flooding in the four payams of Malou-pec, Abiriu, Dony and Ngap payams. The team established that there were 950 individuals displacement in two payams while others could not be accessed. Malaria remained a public health concern in this area with reported drug stock outs at Cuebet Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC). As a recommendation WHO will support the MOH to conduct a second mission to Cuebet PHCC to deliver the much needed supplies and conduct a case management training for severe malaria. 4. In addition, WHO participated in a humanitarian coordination meeting in Turalei town in Twic County. The meeting, chaired by the Government (RRC, County Health and Education Departments) and attended to by other UN partners and International NGOs discussed issues of health and nutrition, WASH, shelter and Non Food Items problems faced by the IDPs and returnees WHO pledged to support the cluster partners to revise and conduct a mapping exercise for the functional health facilities in the areas hosting the displaced population from Abyei with the aim of determining the accessibility level of basic safety nets specificially Primary Health Care services in the area. 3

4 Office for the Republic of South Sudan SOUTH SUDAN 5. In Unity state, with the support of the Logistics cluster, WHO delivered the much needed emergency supplies to Mayendit Primary Health Care Centre in Mayendit county and Panyang PHCC in Abiemnhom County. These two counties reported acute shortage of essential drugs and were cut off by the heavy rains for the last three months. Abeinom County has a catchment population of 17,012 people. With this support it is envisaged that an estimated 2000 people would be benefit from the much needed supplies donated and delivered to the PHCC 6. Communicable Disease Update 1. The Hepatitis E virus outbreak in Maban County continues evolving. During the week, more cases of Acute Jaundice Syndrome (AJS) were reported from Jamam (59), Batil (39), and Gendrassa (12). Two death were reported from Batil. This brings the total cases reported to 110 this week and cumulative cases of 928 with 23 deaths since the outbreak was first reported. There was a high increase noted in Jamam and Yusuf Batil camps, these were however fewer that those seen in previous weeks. 2. In Maban County, Malaria remains the major cause of morbidity in the county. Incidence ranges from 20% to 40% in most health facilities. A sharp raise was recorded this week, with 30% among the refugees compared to week 21% in the past week. Acute watery diarrhea cases reduced by about 10% in Out Patients Department when compared to week 40. Bloody diarrhea without fever continues to be reported from many health facilities without necessitating admission. Cases of respiratory tract infections and skin diseases continued to be reported. No cases of cholera, measles, AFP, or meningitis were reported this week. Several Primary Health Care Units under County Health Departments are not reporting while others have closed due to lack of drugs and/or health workers. Some County Health Workers who were volunteering have equally stopped due to lack of facilitation from the county health department. Health facilities supported by Save the Children through MRDO have not reported this week and many remain inaccessible due heavy rains. 4

5 SOUTH SUDAN Office for the Republic of South Sudan 3. Yida camp on the other hand has reported 3 cases of acute Jaundice Syndrome in week 40 with one death. Acute watery diarrhea and Acute bloody diarrhea increased in week 40 as compared to week 39. However, the trend of these three diseases over the past three weeks remained relatively stable and declining as shown in the graph. 5. Capacity building 1. In this week, WHO supported the county health department of Maban with support supervision activities. Integrated supervision visits were carried out in Doro PHCC managed by SIM. Health workers were taken through the drills of the basic principles of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Expanded Program on Immunization, and Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response through meetings and on job training sessions in the host and refugee communities. The supervision team established that there is need to orientate Community Health Workers on prevention of infectious and communicable diseases especially epidemic prone and vaccine preventable diseases. 2. In Western Bahr el Ghazal, WHO supported the SMOH to conduct a training of hospital and PHCC WHO staff going through HMIS data with a health worker at Doro/SIM Primary Health Care Centre. based health workers on H1N1 influenza virus. The objective of the traing was to equip the front line health workers with basic skills of detection, reporting and case management of suspected cases of H1N1 virus. A total of 21 health workers benefited from the training. It is hoped that disease surveillance for human influenza will be strengthened at facility level. 5

6 SOUTH SUDAN Office for the Republic of South Sudan 6. Partnership As part of preparation for upcoming NIDs in November 2012, WHO in collaboration with UNICEF facilitated an assessment for the capacity of the cold chain in the greater Tonj area. As a result a Cold chain Technician was deployed to Tonj South County. The teams assessed the status of freezers and installed the solar fridge in county. They alsodeveloped an operational plan for the direct inputs required to comfortably run the cold chain at the county level. WHO committed to provide fuel for the operational management of the cold chain 7. Acknowledgments: The progress achieved by WHO/EHA South Sudan was made possible through Contributions from the following partners: For further information, please contact: Dr. Allan Mpairwe, Emergency Coordinator, mpairwea@nbo.emro.who.int or Ms Pauline Ajello, Communication Officer, ajellopa@nbo.emro.who.int 6