Highlights
• Funding gap: 29.9 Million USD was requested for the overall response (all sectors) through a Flash Appeal launced on 24th of March, with only 29% being funded so far, mainly with CERF; in Health, out of the 4,924,200 USD requested, only 23% has been met (1,131,718 USD) to date • FMTs: a total of 20 Foreign Medical Teams (FMTs) arrived in Vanuatu so far, currently 11 remain active in the field, 5 have demobilized, 3 are planned to deploy next week and 1 is pending allocation • Emergency Medical Evacuations: Tanna island had the most medical evacuations (28) out of a total of 62 medevacs to date (21 children <5; 41 adults)
• Disease surveillance: The first Early Warning (EWARN) report was issued early this week for week ending 29th of March (week 13), reporting on the monitoring of potential disease outbreaks; 8 sentinel sites have reported into week’s 13 report, with no major risks detected so far
• Government led assessments: The MoH and health cluster partners are participating in a Government led multi cluster assessment. Results will complement existing assessment findings and will be used to identify ongoing humanitarian priorities and gaps in life-saving assistance, as well as early recovery needs. To date 43 out of the 59 health facilities assessed have been damaged by the Cyclone Pam a further 12 facilities still need assessing
• Food situation: Tropical Cyclone Pam destroyed 96% of crops, with no alternative food stocks. Large numbers of livestock have died due to the event. Current food distribution to about 110,000 people is close to completion in Shefa, Tafea, Malampa and Torba provinces.
• Nutrition: The screening for acute malnutrition in children under five is ongoing jointly with the mass measles vaccination campaign, highlighting low acute malnutrition so far. The dissemination of messages around infant and young child feeding practices started, as an important component of IEC campaigns.
• Vector control: Around 12,000 of the target of 23,000 insecticide treated mosquito nets have been distributed by the Ministry of Health in Port-Vila and surrounding areas. The Ministry’s approach is to confirm the condition of existing (pre-cyclone) nets before distributing new nets, especially given limited stocks.