Health: Nepal Earthquake Cluster Brief, June 2015

HUMANITARIAN NEEDS

The public health consequences of the earthquakes which hit Nepal have been signifi cant. Over 8,000 deaths have been con-fi rmed and thousands of people were injured. More than 1,000 health facilities, mostly village health post serving communities in hard to reach areas were destroyed. Out of the 351 health facilities providing Emergency Obstetric Maternal and Neonatal Care services before the earthquake, 112 (32 per cent) have been destroyed and 144 are partially damaged. There is an urgent need to rehabilitate health facilities and establish temporary facilities in the interim to ensure that affected people have continued access to essential health services. The risk of outbreaks of communicable diseases, including water-borne and vector-borne diseases and acute respiratory infections remains high in overcrowded areas and where water, hygiene and sanitation systems have been disrupted. The risk is further heightened with during the monsoon season. With thousands of people injured by the earthquakes, rehabilitation support services remain critical.