"MEASLES"

At the end of a four-day visit to Ethiopia, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell urged the international community to immediately scale up support to avert a humanitarian catastrophe due to the drought in Ethiopia and the rest of the Horn of Africa. UNICEF

With the ongoing war leading to severe disruptions to the Ukrainian health system including routine immunizations, WHO is seriously concerned about a potential measles outbreak, which could have devastating health consequences. WHO

Briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) reviewed vaccine policy issues including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccination on immunization services, infection and vaccination-induced immunity, use of the Hepatitis A vaccine, Typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs), changes to the HPV vaccination schedule, and the polio eradication programme. WHO

Speaking to reporters in Geneva on the situation in Ukraine, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said the disruption to services and supplies in the country “is posing an extreme risk to people with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and TB, which are among the country’s leading causes of mortality. Displacement, poor shelter, and overcrowded living conditions caused by the conflict are also increasing the risk of diseases such as measles, pneumonia and polio, as well as COVID-19." WHO

According to a UNICEF, the international community and the de facto authorities must find ways to work together in Afghanistan, for the sake of the children. UNICEF

As Somalia is suffering from one of its worst droughts in recent times, UNICEF warned today that 1.4 million children – nearly half of the country’s under five population - are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition out of which 330,000 children will require treatment for severe acute malnutrition. UNTV CH

UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council that six months after the takeover by the Taliban, “Afghanistan is hanging by a thread,” adding that for Afghans, “daily life has become a frozen hell.” UNIFEED

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it was distributing winterization kits in different provinces of Afghanistan to vulnerable families with pregnant and lactating women, families with children with disabilities, female headed households, and others. The kits are part of UNICEF’s emergency response to keep vulnerable children, mothers and families protected during the harsh winter in Afghanistan. UNICEF

Children across Afghanistan are increasingly vulnerable to disease and illness due to the deadly combination of rising malnutrition, an unprecedented food crisis, drought, disruptions to vital health and nutrition centres, lack of access to and poor quality of water and sanitation services, and crippling winter weather. UNICEF