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Health emergencies

Protecting vulnerable people

Our mission is to provide life-saving health care for Somalis in crises and empower them to prevent future emergencies by building the capacities needed to rapidly detect, mitigate, respond to and recover from any emergency health threat to the people of the country, especially vulnerable populations.

Who we are

The Health Emergencies Programme of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) country office supports the federal and state ministries of health to respond rapidly and effectively to natural and public health emergencies under a coordinated incident management system. The programme also works with key humanitarian partners to reduce vulnerability and public health risks from climate shocks, such as floods and droughts, and disease outbreaks. The activities of the programme are effectively managed, adequately staffed and operationally ready to fulfil the programme’s mission.

What we do

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Health Cluster partners, we work to ensure adequate emergency preparedness and response measures are in place primarily through the following actions:

Support the health system

We help strengthen the health system so it can adequately deal with public health emergencies.

To that end, we conduct vulnerability and public health risk analysis, develop national emergency preparedness, response and contingency plans, pre-position supplies, train the health workforce and lead the Health Cluster in Somalia to harmonize efforts in responding to health emergencies.

Prevent disease outbreaks and their public health effects

We conduct disease surveillance, monitor health threats, verify outbreak alerts and conduct field investigations to detect and contain outbreaks. We also implement mass immunization campaigns for cholera and other vaccines-preventable epidemic diseases. We respond to infectious disease outbreaks through field investigations, implementation of evidence-informed interventions and timely sharing of information to end any outbreak and minimize deaths.

Build core capacities for International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005)

We build core capacities required for IHR (2005) and support implementation of the national action plan for health security to fill gaps in IHR core capacities.

Our impact

Working with the Somali Ministry of Health and partners

  • A real-time and fully functional early warning system established for disease detection and response covering 700 of 1200 health facilities
  • Joint external evaluation completed to assess the core capacities for the International Health Regulations (2005)
  • Outbreak of cholera and other infectious diseases including measles and chikungunya successfully managed and contained

What we have achieved

  • Finalized the National Action Plan for Health Security aimed at building IHR core capacities.
  • Developed the cholera control strategy to contribute to the reduction of cholera-related deaths by 90% as part of WHO’s global strategy to end cholera by 2030.
  • Established rapid response teams in all flood- and drought-prone districts.
  • Supported national and state public health laboratories to enhance their detection and diagnosis of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
  • Contained major infectious disease outbreaks including cholera, measles and chikungunya over the past 5 years.
  • Established an electronic early warning, alert and response surveillance system to detect, investigate and respond to 15 priority diseases of public health concern in the country.

What is next

The WHO country office will continue to work with the Ministry of Health and other partners to support the following activities:

  • Map health resources availability across the country to assess the availability of medical services, mostly used for emergency responses.
  • Establish fully functional national and regional emergency operations centres that act as central command and control facilities responsible for the coordination of emergency preparedness and response.
  • Develop and operationalize a plan for improving service delivery and safety of facilities for emergency preparedness, prevention and response within the national goal of achieving universal health coverage.
  • Implement the National Action Plan for Health Security using the One Health approach.
  • Upgrade the public health programme for trauma care and mass casualty management.
  • Develop an integrated disease surveillance and response system.
  • Operationalize and expand a service delivery model for hard-to-reach and insecure areas, internally displaced people and nomadic people in humanitarian settings.
  • Support the building of resilient health systems through working on the humanitarian–development nexus.

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