Summary of major revisions made to emergency plan of action (EPoA):
Along with the Cholera cases in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts, Dengue cases are rising rapidly1 . The National Society (NRCS) will be expanding the current operation with dengue prevention activities in the same locations and target groups as elaborated below in response to requests from the Government and local municipalities.
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Dengue prevention major interventions will be similar to the Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) activities planned in the initial EPoA; therefore, only minor changes to the activities and operational strategies are required.
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AWD activities and targets will not be impacted, except for the number of events that will be carried out. Specifically, additional deployment of a modular Red Cross Emergency Clinic (RCEC) and blood collection campaigns for the dengue prevention plan will be carried out. The target is to collect blood from an additional 600–1,000 people.
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Additionally, AWD and dengue activities overlap and will be mobilised concurrently. The revised plan includes additional home visits by NRCS trained volunteers, the mobilisation of more Epidemic Control for Volunteers (ECV) volunteers, the creation and distribution of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials for AWD and dengue, additional sanitation campaign/waste management events, and additional mobile team (miking) activities.
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The operation timeframe (3 months) and the total operation budget remain the same, even with the additional activities as there are some surpluses of around CHF 21,100 from Human Resources (HR) and administration costs. The surpluses are from (and due to):
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Procurement of RCEC items (NRCS is using existing RCEC stock).
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Regional Disaster Response Team (RDRT deployment) - NRCS has been mobilizing trained staff and volunteers from health and WASH.
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Staffing at National Headquarters (NHQs)-only the most essential staff are assigned, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Logistics assistants are not required.
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Administrative budget, mainly NRCS management support cost (currently in temporary modality, IFRC is transferring funds directly to chapter)
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Orientation to water vendors (municipal authorities are closely monitoring)
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