Attachments
This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African region. This week’s articles cover:
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Humanitarian crisis in Chad
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Cholera in Zimbabwe -
Cholera in Burundi
For each of these events, a brief description, followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided.
A table is provided at the end of the bulletin with information on all new and ongoing public health events currently being monitored in the region, as well as recent events that have been controlled and closed.
Major issues and challenges include:
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The humanitarian crisis in eastern Chad is fast evolving with the influx of refugees from neighbouring Sudan resulting from the wanton armed conflict and violence perpetrated by warring parties. Resources are constrained to meet the basic needs of the refugees, including the provision of care services for those who have sustained critical injuries in Sudan. There is a dire need for urgent mobilization of much-needed resources to meet the growing demand of the refugee population and host communities.
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Cholera remains a major public health problem in the African region. Burundi and Zimbabwe are among two of the sub-Saharan countries currently experiencing an outbreak of cholera with epicentres in densely-populated informal settlements, where there are inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructures and services. In Zimbabwe the situation looks worrisome, with a spike in cases in the past week and the spread of the outbreaks in known hotspot areas in the Harare Province. Robust response measures, particularly for strengthening surveillance, risk communication, case management, and provision of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene services are urgently needed to swiftly control the outbreaks.