Overview

The WHO African Region is challenged by crises and natural disasters in increasing frequency, causing physical destruction of health facilities and functional disruption of services. Between 1992 and 2004, 22 of the 33 humanitarian crises that lasted two or more years occurred in Africa. A total of 21 out of 31 humanitarian appeals in 2006 and nine out of 13 in 2007 were from African countries. In 2008 alone, more than 90% of the Member States in the Region were affected by emergencies. These emergencies comprised natural disasters such as floods; droughts and disease outbreaks as well as conflicts of various degrees.

In 2007, a total of 5,965 disaster-related deaths occurred in our Region. Some 2,770 of these deaths were due to disease epidemics; 1,700 were caused by transport accidents, 722 were due to floods, 164 were attributable to industrial accidents, 112 to storm, 36 to wild fire, 22 to extreme temperature, 20 to land slide, five to volcanoes and 292 to "miscellaneous accidents". For an idea of the financial cost of disasters and emergencies, in 2007 alone, Africa lost $15 billion to man-made disasters such as armed conflict, and natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The repeated floods, droughts, conflicts and disease outbreaks in many parts of the WHO African Region overstretch the already fragile health systems and other infrastructure. This has created major challenges for the emergency response by all partners. Armed conflicts in the Region have mostly been recurrent and, in most instances, complex in nature.

Eleven of the 21 most vulnerable countries in respect of food security in the world, which have reported wasting above 10% and stunting above 40% in the under-five age group, are in the WHO African Region where countries have been experiencing food insecurity since the 1970s due to the decline in their economies, poverty, desertification and climate change. Additionally, the locust invasion of 2004 worsened the food situation from which the Sahel region is yet to fully recover.

As at the end of the 31st epidemiological week of 2008, 29,219 cases of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis with 2,778 deaths (Case Fatality Ratio [CFR] of 9.5%) were reported in 14 countries in the Region. Outbreaks of Yellow Fever, Marburg, Ebola and Rift Valley fever were reported in many East, Central and West African countries including Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Madagascar, Uganda and the DRC.

In addition, the dumping of chemicals has been reported from Coastal countries. Chemical food contamination, oil spills and pipeline explosions and collapse of buildings are common occurrences. In 2006, in Cote d'Ivoire, chemical dumping resulted in 103,842 consultations with 62 persons hospitalized and 10 dead. Another 399 people were exposed to these chemical dumps in 2008 in the same country. In Senegal, lead intoxication from soil contamination affected 950 persons. And in Nigeria, the oil pipeline explosions took the lives of over 100 persons in 2008. Over 150 persons died from building collapse in 2008 in Nigeria, Angola, Kenya and South Africa.

The key challenges Member States face include minimizing the negative effect on health of emergencies, disasters, conflicts and other humanitarian crises and responding to the health and nutrition needs of vulnerable populations affected by such events.