| WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus commended the efforts of the government, health workers and partners, and local communities: “From the lessons learned in the 2014-2016 outbreak and through rapid, coordinated response, community engagement, effective public health measures and equitable use of vaccines, Guinea managed to control the outbreak and prevent its spread beyond its borders. Our work in Guinea continues, including supporting survivors to access after-care.” Related
“I feel proud, to bring my knowledge to help save lives” | Video
Leaving a legacy after Ebola in Guinea With support from donors and partners, WHO continues to support the global COVID-19 response. This includes helping to increasing vaccine confidence in Africa, support vaccine rollouts in the Eastern Mediterranean, increase testing in the Western Pacific and provide critical equipment in the Americas. The conflict in Tigray region in northern Ethiopia has disrupted health services especially for the most vulnerable people. Over half of health facilities are not operational, while people face trauma and injuries, food insecurity and malnutrition, sexual and gender-based violence, and communicable diseases such as malaria and cholera. A recent cholera vaccination campaign supported by WHO reached 50% of the target population due to difficulties in reaching people across a wide geographic area, and continued movements of people due to the shifting conflict. As ceasefire in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) was upheld, WHO scaled its response to aid around 200 000 people in need, including essential medicines to support trauma care and ambulance services. With COVID-19 still a persistent threat, WHO and UNICEF supported the delivery of vaccines to oPt; and WHO also provided essential medicines and consumables to East Jerusalem. WHO and its COVAX partners are working with South African consortium of Biovac and Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, universities, and the Africa-CDC, to establish its first COVID mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub and scale up the production of and access to COVID-19 vaccines across the African region. Iraq
Building critical care capacities for COVID-19
WHO’s regional incident management support team (IMST) trained 87 health care professionals who are currently working in COVID-19 intensive care units from all governorates in Iraq, as part of the ongoing response to surging demand for intensive care beds and critical care during the pandemic. Serbia
Vaccinating refugees and migrants hosted in reception centres
Working with UN agencies and non-governmental organisations, WHO is helping to ensure that refugees and migrants are included in national COVID-19 vaccine deployment plans in Serbia. Information about vaccination is being provided in languages that these vulnerable populations understand to help address any concerns they may have.
Philippines
WHO, UNICEF laud end of polio outbreak
WHO and UNICEF commend the Philippine government and partners for ending the polio outbreak in June, since it resurfaced in September 2019 – after 19 years of being polio-free. The end of the outbreak has been a result of comprehensive response including intensified immunisation and surveillance, despite the tremendous challenges and impact of COVID-19.
Burundi
WHO supports integrated disease surveillance and response | FR
Burundi has adopted an integrated strategy for disease surveillance and response, including a training for nurses to strengthen their knowledge and skills on epidemiological surveillance and managing public health emergencies.
Dr Akjemal Magtymova, WHO Representative in Syria, says that the fully-equipped ambulances donated to all of the country’s governorates are strengthening emergency preparedness and response, enhancing referral services for the most vulnerable, and improving coordination across sectors.
Highlights on donors, partners, and critical support
Vaccinating vulnerable people in the Caribbean and Latin America
To protect vulnerable populations amidst COVID-19, Canada contributed US$40 million to support PAHO’s work to vaccinate at-risk women, migrants, refugees, transient persons and indigenous populations in the Caribbean and Latin America.
ACT-Accelerator welcomes G7 pledge of 870m vaccines; calls for more investment to end the pandemic
G7 leaders pledged 870 million vaccine doses for low and low-middle income countries and emphasised the importance of ACT-Accelerator to end the pandemic. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the G7 leaders: “Many countries now face a surge in cases, and they face it without vaccines. We are in the race of our lives, but it’s not a fair race; most countries have barely left the starting line. We welcome the generous announcements about donations of vaccines, but we need more and we need them faster.”
Enabling rapid deployment of WHO support for emergencies
The Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) enables WHO to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, conflict, and natural disasters. In 2020, the CFE allowed WHO to provide critical support to stop two Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; to procure vital medical supplies to treat victims of the Beirut port explosion; to provide immediate and high-impact funding for the complex emergencies in Mozambique, Sudan and Syria; and to respond to Cyclone Harold in Vanuatu.
Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Syria
Stepping up the fight against the pandemic in challenging contexts, and beyond
While COVID-19 cases are slowing in the hard-hit regions of Europe and North America, much work remains to be done in countries facing surges in infections and other challenges including conflict. WHO is able to continue its work to fight the pandemic around the world thanks to the continued generous support from its donors and partners – including governments, institutions, and individuals.
WHO's operational support to countries
COVID-19 Weekly Operational Update
This week's operational update highlights WHO's country-level support, including: building critical care capacity for COVID-19 in Iraq and infection prevention control capacity in Azerbaijan; supporting online learning in Viet Nam; and WHO’s financing to support to multiple countries in providing critical supplies. Click here to see the highlights and latest figures. |
