What is WHO doing to address the situation



Why do we need the fund

Flood victims during an emergency

Safe burial of Ebola victims

A baby receiving vaccination

Background

Every day, millions of people living in the WHO African Region face threats to their health and livelihoods as a result of disease outbreaks, natural and man made disasters.

These incidents are often associated with high number of deaths as well as destruction of health facilities. Natural disasters such as floods, cyclones and droughts displace communities making them vulnerable to diseases. In 2008 alone, eleven countries of West Africa, 9 countries in Southern Africa and at least four countries in the Nile valley recorded floods that displaced over half a million people with 160,000 in Mozambique alone.

Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, prolonged rainy or dry seasons, and displacement of populations associated with natural and man-made disasters contribute to the frequency and severity of disease outbreaks. The already weak health systems of some countries in the Region suffer when financial, human and logistical resources are diverted to epidemic response.

For example, during recent Ebola and Marburg epidemics in Uganda, services in outpatient, antenatal, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS clinics were suspended as the human resource available had to focus on the response activities.

In the African Region most emergencies and outbreaks occur across a large geographical area and thus affecting many people. For instance, between 2004 and 2008, 13 countries reported a total of 170 927 meningitis cases, 44 countries reported a total of 749 713 measles cases and 41 countries reported a total of 691 290 cholera cases.

Recurring epidemics of cholera, meningitis and measles are associated with case fatality ratios (CFRs) of 5% or higher during some cholera outbreaks, 10% or higher during some meningitis epidemics, and 60% or higher during most Ebola and Marburg outbreaks respectively.

Patient receiving treatment