GENEVA – The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially launched its 2024 Health Emergency Appeal targeting over 166 million people who will require health assistance this year.
Cholera patients in Haiti (File Photo)The initiative aims to enable response to 41 ongoing health crises and deliver critical health care services and protection of vulnerable communities against deepening threats around the world.
As conflict, climate change and economic instability continue to fuel displacement, hunger and inequality, these global crises are deepening and increasing the complexity of health emergencies globally, the WHO noted.
Regarding Latin America and the Caribbean, the WHO notes that the Americas are not exempt from those escalating crises and growing intersecting threats.
It said the region, which remains the second most disaster-prone worldwide after Asia, continues to face complex, multifaceted health and humanitarian challenges in a context of acute inequity within and across countries.
In 2023, Latin American and Caribbean countries grappled with the severe impacts of El Niño, which has intensified existing vulnerabilities of at-risk communities. The phenomenon has led to varied effects on precipitation and temperature, resulting in droughts, wildfires, and floods and causing disruptions in the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, the WHO said.
The repercussions of El Niño on the spread of arboviruses are evident in the sharp increase in dengue cases in 2023, with over four million new infections recorded in the Americas, largely surpassing the previous record from 2019.
Increases in epidemic outbreaks region wide unfold amidst complex and prolonged humanitarian crises, the WHO said, noting that these situations place additional strain on already overwhelmed national health systems that are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling to maintain essential and preventative care services, including vaccination.
“In this regional panorama, Haiti poses the gravest crisis in the Americas region. While the country continues to battle a cholera epidemic since the reemergence of cholera in October 2022, the humanitarian situation in the country rapidly deteriorated in 2023 with worsening insecurity and violence from gangs in 2023 and alarming rises in unprecedented levels of kidnapping, killings and sexual violence.
“This prompted the Emergency Relief Committee (ERC) to activate a System-wide Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) scale-up to bolster humanitarian presence and response in Haiti, automatically reclassifying the crisis as a WHO Grade 3 Emergency – the highest on WHO´s scale.
“Escalating violence in the country has prevented access to healthcare, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities, and deeply hindered the capacity of health institutions and partners to provide a comprehensive emergency response,” the WHO added.
During the online launch for WHO’s Emergency Appeal on Monday, Dr. Oscar Barreneche, PAHO/WHO Representative in Haiti said “the glimmer of hope comes with the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution 2699, which authorized a specialized multinational Mission to support the Haitian National Police in restoring stability in the country.
“The Mission is expected to start during the first quarter of 2024. PAHO/WHO is supporting Haiti’s Ministry of Health with preparations for the mission and is facilitating the coordination with partners within the health cluster for the provision of the overall humanitarian response,” Dr. Barreneche added.
In response to these challenges, WHO seeks US$1.5 billion in funding from the donor community to provide live-saving health care to millions of people in emergencies and ensure that no critical health need is left unmet.
In the Americas, a total of US$133.9 million is required to support and scale-up the response to ongoing health emergencies and crises and strengthen essential healthcare delivery to population in need of assistance.
WHO´s Health Emergency Appeal has six key priorities for the Americas for 2024 including enhancing equitable access to healthcare services, strengthening response to infectious disease outbreaks, operational preparedness for natural disasters: increasing readiness for hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods as well as enhanced emergency logistics coordination and supply chain management.
