ReliefWeb

CHF 127,221 has been allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Viet Nam Red Cross Society in delivering immediate assistance to 113,625 beneficiaries over a period of four months from August to November 2011. Un-earmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.

Summary: Cases of hand, foot and mouth disease have increased significantly in the last two months in Viet Nam, affecting people in 49 provinces, mostly from the southern part of the country. As of 1 August, 25,918 cases and 74 deaths have been reported to the Ministry of Health (MOH). Children under five years of age are the most vulnerable. Big cities are among the most affected areas and the Ministry is leading public health interventions to reduce infection and deaths.

As a member of the National Steering Committee on Infectious Diseases and Pandemics, Viet Nam Red Cross (VNRC) has participated in regular coordination meetings led by the Ministry of Health to keep a close watch on the situation. In July, guidance to reduce risks of HFMD was provided by Viet Nam Red Cross to its members, staff and volunteers in all 63 provinces. Provincial chapters, particularly the most affected regions in the South have mobilized volunteers to conduct community awareness-raising and education campaigns in support to HFMD prevention and control efforts of health authorities. Red Cross staff and volunteers have also strengthened cooperation with health authorities and other partner organizations in carrying out these efforts.

With DREF support, VNRC seeks to assist the most vulnerable communities in the five most severely-affected provinces of Viet Nam. Target beneficiaries are parents and caregivers of children under five years of age and those in primary school as well as their teachers. The DREF operation will focus on the communication of risks including measures to mitigate them, to prevent further transmission and to provide care to children who are infected by HFMD.

VNRC will consult national and local health authorities in further defining its interventions, as well as carry out a rapid needs assessment in selected operation areas through those trained in pandemic preparedness programmes held previously before beginning the DREF operation. Existing materials on good hygiene such as hand-washing and coughing etiquette, home care and physical isolation of the sick (which were developed through the pandemic preparedness programme) will be adapted and utilized for this operation.

This operation is to be implemented for four months from August 2011, and will be completed by 30 November 2011; a final report will be made available three months after the end of the operation by 31 March 2012.