Yemen Humanitarian Update - Issue 6, June 2023 [EN/AR]

HIGHLIGHTS

Declining Vaccination Coverage Fuels Measles Outbreaks in Yemen:
Urgent Response Needed P 01

Joint Field Mission to Abs District in Hajjah Governorate Identifies Critical Needs and Mobilizes Enhanced Support P 02

World Refugees Day 2023: Hope away from Home P 04

Meet Nadhifa: A Midwife in Kharaz Camp and A Refugee

DECLINING VACCINATION COVERAGE FUELS MEASLES OUTBREAKS IN YEMEN: URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED

Since the beginning of 2023, vaccination in the Ansar Allah- controlled areas in Yemen has been limited to health facilities. The outreach and vaccination campaigns have been stopped, leaving behind the most vulnerable children, especially those in hard-to-reach areas. This has caused a decline in vaccination coverage and facilitated the further spread of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases. Hesitancy to vaccination, associated with intensified misinformation campaigns, is another important factor creating barriers to vaccination.

Yemen is witnessing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles. As of 22 June 2023, a total of 25,935 suspected cases of measles have been reported, with 1,406 laboratory-confirmed cases and 259 deaths across all governorates of Yemen this year. This represents over 96% of cases reported in the whole of 2022, and with this trend, unless an effective response is implemented soon, there might be double the number of cases reported last year.

Two or three shots of the measles vaccine would have prevented this situation. 88 % of children reported with suspected measles had not received a single dose of the measle vaccine. Overall, routine vaccination coverage has dropped in 2023. The measles vaccination coverage is low (69% against the target for the period at the end of April). A total of 224,000 children have received their first dose of the measles vaccine, a 10% drop compared to the same period in 2022. In addition, increasing malnutrition rates have created a favorable condition for measles to spread further and be more severe – subsequently causing more deaths among children.

UNICEF and WHO are supporting the authorities to respond to the situation. Following a series of intensive engagements with the authorities in the Ansar Allah-controlled areas, a measles outbreak response vaccination campaign is planned to be conducted in the 3rd quarter of 2023, covering all governorates and targeting 5.7 million children between 6 and 59 months of age. In the GoY- controlled areas, two rounds of integrated outreach have been conducted, targeting children in hard-to-reach areas. A total of 60,000 children under five years have received at least one dose of the measles vaccine and 60,682 children under the age of one have received the first dose of the Diphtheria vaccine. Despite the limited operational space, efforts are ongoing to raise awareness and mobilize communities to increase vaccination uptake and other critical services. WHO supports strengthening the surveillance system which is critical to inform response planning and monitoring.

Despite funding constraints, partners including UNICEF are scaling up the support to Primary Health Care (PHCs) to provide the integrated Minimum Service Package (MSP), which includes measles and other routine vaccination. UNICEF plans to scale its current support from 2,800 PHCs to 3,000 by the end of 2023.

Other partners are already supporting additional 771 PHCs, increasing the coverage of the supported PHCs to 75%. A plan is ongoing to open new temporary outposts in hard-to-reach areas following the pause in the Ansar Allah-control areas of integrated outreach rounds.