World Food Program Scales Up Food Assistance Operation To Haiti Earthquake Victims

The United Nations World Food Program WFP) says it has begun a major increase of its operation with the start of the first systematic food distribution program to reach victims affected by the Haiti earthquake.


In coordination with the UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and under the leadership of the Haitian government, plus some key NGOs (non-governmental organizations), "WFP is rolling out distributions at 16 fixed sites across the Haitian capital, with the aim of reaching over two million people during a two-week period".


"WFP is working with all of its partners to mobilize a regular flow of food to reach all of those devastated by the earthquake," said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran from Rome. "It is the most complex challenge we have ever confronted, but this distribution system will not only allow us to reach more people, it will give us the qualitative step we need to facilitate the delivery of all kinds of humanitarian assistance in the weeks and months to come. The 16 fixed sites are an important step towards food stability. "


The scale-up of the operation started today, 30th January 2010, with distributions of coupons across the Port-au-Prince (the capital), and families will be targeted in coordination with local authorities. The first distributions will then take place at all 16 sites today and continue for 15 days.


Each family will receive a 25 kg ration of rice, with only women being allowed into distribution sites to collect their share. WFP and its partners will work with the local authorities to ensure that men in need of assistance are not excluded.


"Up until now the nature of this emergency has forced us to work in a 'quick and dirty' way simply to get food out. This new system will allow us to provide food assistance to more people, more quickly through a robust network of fixed distribution sites. The entire humanitarian family and the military forces on the ground in Haiti have come together to make this possible," said Sheeran.


Separate from this new operation, distributions to those affected by the earthquake currently living outside Port-au-Prince will continue, as will specialist support to hospitals and orphanages.


WFP's response has been hampered by the almost complete decimation of the city's infrastructure, the destruction of the supply chain to move food and other supplies into and around the country, and the huge scale of need. The congested, densely populated urban setting has also presented the humanitarian effort with a huge challenge.


Despite all these obstacles, WFP has reached nearly 600,000 people with over 16 million meals since the earthquake struck.


Source: WFP (World Food Program)

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Health Minister Announces Plans To Improve Care For Victims Of Sexual Assault, Wales

New plans to improve care to adults that have suffered sexual assault or abuse are announced by Health Minister Edwina Hart.



Care for victims will be rolled out through Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) - where specialist staff are trained to counsel victims, and where police and other health practitioners can refer victims for examination, screening and treatment.



The proposals aim to provide more timely, appropriate and co-ordinated care. The recommended range of services for SARCs includes:
A dedicated, forensically secure facility, integrated with hospital services
Availability of forensic examination 24 hours a day, within 4 hours if necessary
Immediate on-site access to emergency contraception and drugs to prevent sexually transmitted infections including HIV
Integral follow-up services, including psycho-sexual support/counselling, sexual health and support throughout the criminal justice process

Health Minister, Edwina Hart, said: "Sexual assault is both a common and very serious crime. For victims, these crimes represent a violation of the basic right for an individual to be treated with dignity and respect, and to live without fear of sexual violence. Such incidents can have significant and ongoing consequences for health and wellbeing.



"The Welsh Assembly Government takes the problem of violence against women and domestic abuse very seriously. It has set aside an extra ??1 million for the violence against women and domestic abuse budget next year, taking the total budget to ??4.7 million."



This proposal forms a key part of the Welsh Assembly Government's strategic plan to tackle domestic abuse.



Last week, Social Justice Minister Dr Brian Gibbons launched a new campaign raising awareness of the 'early warning signs' of an abusive relationship and publicising the Wales Domestic Abuse helpline which provides support to people experiencing domestic abuse.



The proposals will now go out for a 12 week consultation. The closing date for responding to the consultation is 24 February 2010.



Source
The Welsh Assembly Government

Over 9,000 Cholera Cases In Haiti, With Tens Of Thousands More Likely To Come

The Pan American Health Organization says over 9,000 cases of cholera have been reported. If this epidemic is anything like the last one in this continent, we should expect tens of thousands more cases, said Dr. Jon Andrus, Deputy Director of PAHO (Pan American Health Organization). Haitian health authorities reported yesterday 583 deaths so far due to cholera and 9,123 hospitalized patients, 73 of which are citizens of the capital, Port-au-Prince.


PAHO says its focus at the moment is to work with the Haitian government and other organizations in the area to "integrate the additional numbers into the official surveillance system". At the moment it is likely the number of cases are higher, because other organizations also report cases.


Dr. Andrus stressed:


The case numbers are not as important as the underlying trends, and our top priority is treating the sick and preventing new cases.


Hurricane Tomas was mercifully much less damaging and severe than people had expected.


Referring to Hurricane Tomas, Dr. Andrus said:


We have every reason to expect that the widespread flooding has increased the risk of cholera spreading.


Andrus expects a sudden rise in cases over the next few days because of the flooding.


Cholera has reached the capital, Port-au-Prince, a city with 3 million people. Experts said this was practically inevitable and should not come as a surprise. However, that fact that the epidemic has reached the city is of concern.


Port-au-Prince used to have very poor water and sanitation infrastructure before the devastating earthquake struck at the beginning of this year. Conditions are ideal now for cholera to spread throughout the city rapidly.


Andrus said:


We have to prepare for a large upsurge in cases. We have to be prepared with all the resources that are needed for a rapid response.


In 1991, when the last cholera epidemic occurred in the Americas, it started in Peru and made its way to 16 other nations, spanning from Canada to Argentina. Between 1991 and 1997 there were 650,000 cases in Peru alone. Andrus believes that if we extrapolate from what happened then, and make some geographical and population adjustments, Haiti should expect up to 270,000 cases of cholera.


Andrus added:


We have to think about and plan for the long term. The bacteria have a foothold in the rivers and the water system, so it will be there for a number of years.


PAHO says everybody is working to the limit trying to get prevention messages and urgent medical supplies to people throughout the country, including PAHO itself, Haitian health authorities and NGOs (non-governmental organizations). Supplies are getting through to remote villages as well.


Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health, examples of NGOs, are setting up special treatment centers in the most affected areas, including Port-au-Prince.


Stefano Zannini, Doctors Without Borders head of mission in Haiti, said:


The increasing numbers of cases of suspected cholera in our facilities throughout Port-au-Prince are certainly alarming. Cholera is a highly treatable and preventable disease, especially once symptomatic patients are treated in a controlled, isolated environment like a CTC. The presence of CTCs (cholera treatment centers) in cholera-affected areas can relieve pressure on local hospitals and health structures, greatly reducing the risk of infection among pre-existing inpatients and the wider community.


As the number of cases grows, Andrus predicts things will become more difficult. "The system is going to be stretched."


PAHO says the current epidemic will in no way interfere with the country's general elections on November 28th.


Andrus said:


There is no reason to expect the elections to have a negative impact on the cholera epidemic. And in fact, the Ministry of Health is planning to use the occasion to disseminate prevention messages to the population. It will help prevent the spread of infection.


Source: PAHO, Doctors Without Borders


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WFP Condemns Looting Of Food Warehouses During Unrest In Guinea

The United Nations World Food Programme has condemned the looting of three food warehouses in Guinea over the weekend - resulting in the loss of nearly 450 metric tons of food aid destined for school children and the poorest communities.



WFP estimates the value of the losses at US$ 350,000.



During violent disturbances in the eastern city of Kankan on Sunday, a WFP warehouse was stripped bare, and a total of 350 tons of rice, yellow split peas and cooking oil was stolen by marauding local inhabitants. Other items such as cooking pots, plates and spoons were also looted.



In addition, WFP's office in Kankan was attacked by a mob throwing stones, forcing the evacuation of the only international staff across the border into Mali.



Further disturbances, again involving local inhabitants, near the town of Lab?© in central Guinea over the weekend caused the loss of a further 97 metric tons of food commodities from two warehouses belonging to WFP's government partners - in Pita (Saturday) and Dalaba (Sunday).



The stolen food was meant for children enrolled in WFP's school feeding programme. Each year, over 200,000 children in Guinea receive school meals on a regular basis. The looted food was also intended for other non-emergency activities which include food-for-work projects, nutrition programmes for young children and their mothers and support to people suffering from HIV/AIDS.



"This food was for the poorest of the poor in Guinea - it has been mindlessly plundered by people who have no respect for the property of others," said WFP Guinea Country Director, Philippe Guyon LeBuffy.



"At this point, it's hard to know when we will next be able to provide schools and other institutions with the food aid they rely on for their programmes. We understand there is widespread frustration and anger in the country, but actions such as these will only make the lives of the poorest even worse," Guyon LeBuffy added.



The looting means there are now no remaining food stocks in Kankan. Some 500 metric tons for operations around Lab?© are still intact as are food aid stocks for WFP's refugee operation in the Forest Region of Guinea.



The violence which is sweeping through Guinea forced WFP last weekend to suspend temporarily all its operations, although February distributions to the most needy Liberian and Ivorian refugees have been completed.



WFP is monitoring the situation closely, including the possibility that new food needs may arise should the situation deteriorate further, as many people are suffering an acute loss of income resulting from the strike action and civil unrest.







WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries.



WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - For just 19 US cents a day, you can help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a gift of hope for a brighter future.



For further information please go to:
World Food Program WFP - We Feed People

International Support Needed To Help Haiti Rebuild Its AIDS Response

UNAIDS calls for a coordinated approach in supporting Haiti, the country most affected by HIV in the Caribbean, to rebuild its AIDS response in the wake of the 12 January earthquake. Following an initial rapid assessment of the situation with the Ministry of Public Health and Population, UNAIDS has released the concept note Helping Haiti rebuild its AIDS response. The report explains the current situation in Haiti and what may be required to meet the immediate and intermediate AIDS response needs. UNAIDS will continue to revise and update this assessment as new information becomes available.


"It is unprecedented to have such a huge natural disaster in a country with a high HIV prevalence," said Mr Michel Sidib?©, Executive Director of UNAIDS.


There were an estimated 120 000 people living with HIV in Haiti before the earthquake. Haiti's epidemic is mostly driven by heterosexual sex and an estimated 53% percent of people living with HIV are women.


Most of the structural damage happened in the three departments (Ouest, Sud-Est and les Nippes) that accounted for nearly 60% of the population of people living with HIV.


"Now, more than 1 million people are living in temporary shelters, putting them at greater risk of violence that includes sexual and gender based violence," added Mr Sidib?©. "Programmes are urgently needed to reduce vulnerabilities to HIV and ensure protection."


The three most affected areas also had more than half of all the antiretroviral treatment sites. Assessment teams have noted make-shift clinics under tents popping up to help increase treatment access, however, the Ministry of Health estimates that less than 40% of the 24 000 people living with HIV who were on treatment before the earthquake have accessed them.


Civil society networks of people living with HIV as well as many of the organizations providing HIV services have been affected by the earthquake and will need to be strengthened.


Currently Haiti is experiencing a critical interruption of HIV services and programmes and will need comprehensive and sustained support for the country to regain momentum towards universal access targets to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support.


Seven priority actions have been identified:


1. Rebuild health systems (including antiretroviral and PMTCT services);

2. Protect displaced people from HIV;

3. Rebuild the national and local network of people living with HIV;

4. Support social protection measures;

5. Revitalize HIV prevention programmes;

6. Re-establish comprehensive coordination mechanisms for the AIDS response; and

7. Develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation mechanism.


Source

UNAIDS

VHA Health Foundation Convenes First Disaster Preparedness Conference Exclusively For Hospital Leaders

Leaders of American hospitals from
throughout the nation met here today for two days of talks with high-level
health care and government officials on better preparing American
communities to cope with the next inevitable disaster.



Admiral John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH, Assistant Secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services, told the nearly 200 leaders
attending the VHA Health Foundation forum that disaster planning should not
begin with the actual event. Instead, disaster plans should start with
recovery and considerations of what the situation will be like 30 days
after the catastrophe occurs.



"The greatest stress on hospitals ... is after the event rather than
during or before," he said. "Yet in disaster planning, we spend time
planning for the 30 minutes before the disaster hits but rarely get to the
recovery phase in our planning exercises."



The meeting was the first devoted exclusively to helping hospital CEOs
determine if their hospital has done everything necessary to assure they
are prepared to assist their communities through man-made or natural
disasters. The VHA Health Foundation, sponsor of the event, is a national
resource for senior hospital leaders seeking information on innovation in
health care and disaster readiness.



"People turn to hospitals in a crisis because they know hospitals deal
with emergencies every single day," said Linda DeWolf, President of the VHA
Health Foundation. "And hospitals know that to meet their responsibilities
they must be ready to deal with unanticipated disruptions in
communications, staffing, facilities and logistics. Most importantly,
hospitals need to recognize that the community relationships they build now
are crucial to their ability to weather a crisis."



Aaron Brown, former CNN NewsNight anchor highlighted the need for
leaders to be in control of their response to a crisis and demonstrate
unwavering "commitment to getting it done," even in the most desperate of
situations. Brown, over a career spanning 30 years, covered such disasters
as September 11, the shootings in Columbine and earthquakes in California.
James Lee Witt, former FEMA director, was expected to share insights later
in the day Thursday from more than 25 years of managing disasters.



Agwunobi said "true preparedness" has three levels:


-- The ability to understand the unique nuances in any given hazard;


-- The assurance of "modular general competencies"; and


-- The creation of a culture of preparedness.




"Every hazard has its own unique characteristics," he said, reviewing
the nuances between preparing for an earthquake, which is a single event in
which many patients suffer crush injuries, and pandemics where half the
hospital staff could fall ill and the course of the disease could last
months or years. Planning requires that hospitals consider the unique
circumstances of each crisis and plan the appropriate response."
















General competencies include planning for the basics like power, food,
water, staffing and supplies. "Almost all hospitals now have generators
that can supply power for two to seven days, but in Florida, the average
power outage was two weeks," he said.



"Have you asked yourself the question, 'What would break down if we
didn't have power for 30 days?'" he said. "What would happen if all the
workers who fix water mains were ill? Or, what would you do if it took
three times as long as usual for pharmaceuticals to be replenished?"



Agwunobi also reminded hospital executives that hospital disaster
planning should not happen in a vacuum but must be coordinated at the
community level with the government, other health care providers and other
hospitals. "You can be as prepared as you think you can be, but if your
community is not prepared, if you're the only one, then you'll be
overwhelmed in any crisis ... If you're the only light in the darkness,
you'll quickly get all the oxygen patients; if you're the only source of
water, you'll get all the dialysis patients."



Part of hospital planning must be to create a "culture of community
preparedness," including close cooperation with other hospitals, agencies
and community resources. He urged hospitals that might normally be
competitors to share their disaster preparedness plans, adding "in a true
crisis, there is no competition."



The meeting sought to address discrepancies in hospital preparedness.
Earlier this year, a report from the Trust for America's Health said the
nation's level of emergency preparedness warranted a D+ and hospitals
didn't rank much better.



The forum agenda included a scenario planning session and the
introduction of a new tool for measuring hospital CEO preparedness. Public
release of the results of the preparedness assessment is expected early
first quarter of 2007. Those at the conference saw first-hand the
rebuilding of New Orleans with local hospital executives who managed
through Hurricane Katrina. A media panel shed light on what the press
expects from hospitals as critical sources of information during a
disaster.



The VHA Health Foundation, located in Irving, Texas, is a public
foundation created by VHA Inc. to encourage leadership and innovation in
addressing health and health care issues. Efforts benefit VHA member health
care organizations as well as non-members. The VHA Health Foundation
supports programs that focus on new approaches to health and health care
that make a difference, generate synergies that bring resources to add
value and enhance outcomes, and diffuse knowledge and best practices. For
more information, visit vhahf.


VHA Health Foundation

vhahf

UNICEF Delivers Essential Supplies For Children And Families Hit By Floods In Hadhramout In Yemen

A UNICEF convoy carrying essential supplies has left Sana'a to deliver assistance to children and families devastated by flash floods in the Hadhramout Governorate of Yemen. Torrential rains culminating in flood water washed away scores of villages in the valley, forcing people from their homes. UN agencies started their joint relief operation with the Government of Yemen in the first 72 hours, and commissioned a rapid assessment to gauge the needs of the affected population.


In its aftermath, the floods have left 98 people dead and thousands displaced. Over 22,000 internally displaced persons have taken shelter in 65 schools. Around 3,264 households have been destroyed. Various sites are not yet accessible by road, and precise information on the emergency situation is lacking. Wadi Doan, Tarim and Sah in central Yemen are among the worst hit areas.



Children and women face a high risk of water borne diseases and exposure to the ravages of harsh winter weather. The initial assessment shows an urgent need for essential items such as safe drinking water, blankets, hygiene items and soap, food, and non-food items. UNICEF's life-saving supplies include water purification tablets, jerry cans for storing drinking waters, blankets, soap and daily items to help families survive in a time of severe distress.


"The size and complexity of the natural disaster, which caught local populations unprepared, is beyond the capacity of the government and civil society to handle," UNICEF Representative in Yemen Aboudou Karimou Adjibade remarked on the eve of the departure of UNICEF convoy of supplies.


UNICEF is airlifting another bulk supply of water purification tablets from its Copenhagen Office to ensure the threat of water borne diseases is averted. "UNICEF's major concern is to save children, who due to the elevated incidence of malnutrition are highly vulnerable to water-borne diseases in the aftermath of the floods. The supplies sent to Hadhramout include jerry cans, storage tanks for drinking water and essential hygiene items that children and families need in conditions of overcrowding in the temporary shelters," said Mr. Adjibade.


It is important for the initial supplies to get to the families during the first week of the crisis. More aid is on the way to help Governorate authorities render water schemes and schools functional as soon as possible. A UNICEF team of professionals has been dispatched to Hadhramout Government and is working closely with local authorities to make sure that the priority needs of children and women are addressed effectively.


A UNICEF package of life-saving supplies includes water purification tablets, water containers, storage tanks, blankets, soap and hygiene kits for families and children.


UNICEF Yemen Representative seeing off a convoy of essential supplies for children
and families affected by the floods in Hadhramout


About UNICEF


UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.


UNICEF