Off the wire
• Zenit to run St. Petersburg stadium after 2018 WC  • Tanzania worries over depleting fish species in northern fresh-water lakes  • Lithuania considers doubling contribution to NATO response force  • Syrian army, allies to unleash wide-scale offensive in Aleppo  • Experts discuss anti-torture laws in Africa  • Africa Economy: Ghana to woo investors on a non-deal road show  • Putin calls on Armenia, Azerbaijan to observe cease-fire  • Polish gov't should respect Constitutional Tribunal decision: EU Commissioner  • 1st LD: Motion to impeach South African President Zuma defeated  • Feature: Where are roots of Italian artisans' passion for their work?  
You are here: 　 Home

Health needs from humanitarian emergencies reach all-time high: WHO

Xinhua, April 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners on Tuesday appealed for 2.2 billion U.S. dollars to provide lifesaving health services to more than 79 million people in some 30 countries and territories.

WHO and health partners work together to provide urgent health services including essential medicines, vaccines and treatment for diseases such as cholera and measles, often in insecure and extremely difficult settings.

"The risks to health caused by humanitarian emergencies are at an all-time high," said Bruce Aylward, executive director of WHO Outbreaks and Health Emergencies. "The situation is getting worse. The increasing impact of protracted conflict, forced displacement, climate change, unplanned urbanization and demographic changes all mean that humanitarian emergencies are becoming more frequent and severe."

In Syria, one of the biggest humanitarian emergencies, WHO and partners are seeking funds to provide 11.5 million people with health services including trauma and mental health care, and to provide vaccines, medicines and surgical supplies to almost five million Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries.

WHO requests urgent funds to support 6.8 million people threatened by the worst drought in decades in Ethiopia, with one of the priorities to provide emergency health services to save the lives of more than 400,000 severely malnourished children.

In addition to more than 30 protracted emergencies, WHO is also responding to sudden onset emergencies, such as Cyclone Winston that impacted Fiji in February 2016, and to infectious disease outbreaks including Zika virus, the remaining risks of Ebola in West Africa and Angola's worst outbreak of yellow fever in 30 years.

In one of the most profound transformations in its history, WHO is rolling out a new Health Emergencies Program that will increase operational capacity in countries and enable a faster, effective and predictable response to all kinds of health emergencies including outbreaks and humanitarian crises. Endit