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Emergency Health and Nutrition Project reduces infection in Yemen
With the support of the World Bank, the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project has updated sterilization equipment at Al-Thawra hospital.
29 December 2019 – Based on data gathered by WHO from a number of countries, it can be estimated that each year, hundreds of millions of patients around the world are affected by health care-associated infections (HAI). The burden of HAI is several fold higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income ones.
In a country torn apart by war, Yemeni people seeking medical support struggle to receive proper and effective medical treatment. Most of the hospital’s medical equipment requires replacement like the sterile supply department of Al-Thawra hospital. The equipment was so old that it would be the cause of delay or cancellation of critical surgeries since the sterilization process of instruments would take hours instead of minutes.
But thanks to the support of the World Bank through the International Development Association under the framework of the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project, Al-Thawra hospital now has the updated sterilization equipment it has desperately needed. This is crucial since the proper sterilization process is a necessary component in ensuring that infection prevention and control in hospitals remains a priority.
“The number of patients in Al-Thawra hospital benefiting from the support is three to four thousand beneficiaries on a monthly basis and approximately from 120 to 130 operations a day in 26 medical departments, some of these operations need to go through sterilization process in 16 minutes, but the central sterile equipment, very old, resulted in delaying or cancelling the operations, so the modern sterile supply can sterilize in 16 minutes to save lives through performing urgent surgeries without procrastinating” said the Manager of the CSSD of Al-Thawrah Hospital, Mansor Kuhazah.
“Now the central sterile department of Al-Thawra is in a position to sterilize plastic and instrumens rapidly due to the modern sterile equipment being provided by WHO through the Emergency Health and Nutrition project”, said the Engineer Mohammed Nofal, who rehabilitated the sterilization department of the hospital.
Under the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project, WHO and UNICEF with its technical partner the World Bank through the International Development Association continue to meet health needs, as well as expectations, in Yemen.
The EHNP is a crosscutting project providing essential health and nutrition services across the country. In the midst of the ongoing war, the EHNP is protecting and preserving the health system. EHNP supports 72 hospitals across the Republic of Yemen with a suite of essential life-saving health services. WHO, the World Bank and UNICEF work closely to strengthen the referral system the primary and secondary levels to the tertiary levels of care. In addition, EHNP supports public health programmes, disease response and outbreaks such as cholera and diphtheria.
Seasonal influenza in Yemen
18 December 2019, Yemen – WHO has confirmed that there are no signs of unusually high rates of influenza in Yemen. Infection rates are typically higher between October and March, in Yemen as in other countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, but they have not risen beyond the normal seasonal pattern in 2019.
Seasonal influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses which circulate in all parts of the world. Symptoms include a sudden onset of fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, severe malaise (feeling unwell), sore throat and runny nose. The cough can be severe and can last 2 or more weeks, but most people recover from fever and other symptoms within a week without requiring medical attention.
However, influenza can cause severe illness or death, especially in people at high risk such as pregnant women, children under 5 years and the elderly. Vaccination is therefore recommended for these high-risk groups, and infection rates are monitored to detect possible outbreaks and respond to them quickly.
The number of reported severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases in Yemen this year is comparable to previous influenza seasons. No cluster of severe influenza cases or deaths has been reported through the national surveillance system, and there is no evidence of an avian influenza outbreak among poultry or wild birds, or any human case of avian influenza.
WHO continues to work with public health authorities in Yemen to monitor the situation, raise awareness, and prevent and control infection.
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Dengue and malaria update
Updated: 18 November 2019, Yemen – Over 4 years of conflict in Yemen have resulted in the displacement of over 2 million people, destroyed infrastructure and taken systems to the brink of collapse. Yemen, like the majority of countries in conflict, has sustained massive damage to its infrastructure. The successive onslaught of heavy rains, resulting in flash floods and inadequate drainage have turned harmless puddles into active mosquito breeding sites. These larvae are given space and time to turn into adult mosquitos who then infect people.
“Containing these diseases has been a challenge given the operational environment and scale of this conflict, but WHO remains commited to the people of Yemen. These vector control measures along with sustained community involvement can improve vector control efforts substantially. We will continue working with local health authorities to fight all diseases that serve as a threat to public health in Yemen,” said Altaf Musani, WHO Representative in Yemen.
In Yemen, malaria and dengue are endemic, while for dengue the number of suspected cases (as of 18 Nov 2019) is at 29 509. WHO, with the support of health authorities in Yemen, have been fighting dengue and malaria for years. In the first 2 weeks of November alone, we have continued to provide response kits enough to treat 15 000 people, deployed technical teams to investigate suspect cases, provided diagnostics and laboratory support for vector-borne diseases, IV solutions, and built the capacity of health care staff in health facilities to treat these diseases. In communities, WHO along with support from local health authorities, has continued to educate communities and conducted mass spray campaigns to kill these mosquitos.
Malaria and dengue are known as vector-borne diseases that are transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. These vector-borne diseases affect many countries across the globe, including Yemen. An estimated 70% of the world’s malaria burden is located in 11 countries — 10 of which are in Africa and 1 in India. As for dengue, an estimated 390 million infections are recorded every year, worldwide.
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WHO remains vigilant in the detection, prevention and control of communicable diseases in Yemen
13 November 2019 – In a non-permissive environment replete with operational and security challenges, the expansion of the national electronic disease early warning system (eDEWS) in Yemen to identify and quickly control infectious disease outbreaks is nothing short of a miracle.
Even in the middle of active conflict, WHO, through its Emergency Health and Nutrition Project (EHNP) partnership the World Bank, successfully revamped and expanded Yemen’s existing eDEWs system, transitioning it from a paper-based system into a centralized, electronic reporting system.
New sentinel sites are added each year to cover more areas across the country and protect people from deadly outbreaks. In this way, WHO and partners are able to better monitor the occurrence of disease outbreaks and quickly respond to them before they place already vulnerable people at even greater risk.
Across Yemen today, there are 1991 active sentinel sites that are detecting and electronically reporting on 28 different highly pathogenic diseases such as cholera, dengue, viral haemorrhagic fever, measles, pertussis and acute flaccid paralysis. This is a significant increase from 400 sites that existed in 2015 at the start of the crisis, reporting on only 16 diseases.
Today, more than 90% of all sentinel sites provide reports that are both accurate and timely, strengthening infectious disease prevention in communities, and protecting the country’s fragile health system. In 2019, 78 011 disease alerts, were received through the eDEWS system that were verified and investigated by the eDEWS coordinators and district rapid response teams to early detect and contain any potential outbreak.
The establishment of eDEWS is a critical component of a much larger effort by WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank to operationalize the humanitarian development nexus—ensuring acute health needs are met while simultaneously safeguarding the protection of Yemen’s health system.
