Tag Archives: emergency

Climate emergency is a health crisis ‘that is already killing us,’ says WHO

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Europe is warming faster than any other WHO region, and the impact on people’s health is growing more severe. From rising death rates to increasing climate-related anxiety, nearly every health indicator linked to climate has worsened in recent years. 

In response, WHO/Europe on Wednesday launched a new initiative – the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health (PECCH) – to tackle the growing threat climate change poses to public health. 

Chaired by former Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakibsdótirr, the commission brings together 11 leading experts from across the region tasked with delivering recommendations for actionable solutions.

Deadly heat

With nearly half of humanity already living in areas highly susceptible to climate change, a third of the world’s heat-related deaths occur in the European Region.

In the years 2022 and 2023 combined, more than 100,000 people across 35 countries in the European Region died due to heat.

“The climate crisis is not only an environmental emergency, it is a growing public health challenge,” said Katrín Jakobsdóttir.

“We must recognise that the interplay among rising temperatures, air pollution and changing ecosystems resulting from human-induced climate change is already affecting the health and well-being of communities around the European Region and the world,” she said.

The commission is being tasked with providing recommendations to reduce emissions, invest in adaptation strategies that protect health, reduce inequality and build resilience.

Escalating threat

The climate crisis disproportionately affects the health of the most vulnerable.

From the spread of infectious diseases to heat-related illness and food insecurity, “climate change poses a serious and escalating threat to human health,” said Andrew Haines, chief advisor to the WHO/Europe climate-health initiative. 

Sudan emergency: We need more help to prevent famine, says WFP

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“Over the past six months, WFP scaled up assistance and we are now reaching nearly one million Sudanese in Khartoum with food and nutrition support,” said Laurent Bukera, WFP Country Director in Sudan. “This momentum must continue; several areas in the south are at risk of famine.”

In an update from Port Sudan, Mr. Bukera reported that a mission to Khartoum had found many neighbourhoods abandoned, heavily damaged and akin to a “ghost city”.

Pressure on overstretched resources will only intensify, he insisted.

Fragile frontline communities

And as conflict still rages between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, sparked by a breakdown in transition to civilian rule in 2023, the veteran aid worker also explained that communities on the frontlines were at “breaking point” and unable to support displaced families any longer.

Despite many generous contributions to the UN agency’s work in Sudan, it faces a $500 million shortfall to support emergency food and cash assistance for the coming six months.

“The international community must act now by stepping up funding to stop famine in the hardest hit area, and to invest in Sudan’s recovery,” Mr. Bukera insisted.” We must also demand respect for the safety and the protection of the Sudanese people and aid workers.”

No food, water

More than two years of fighting have smashed infrastructure and left communities without basic services, such as clean water.

This – and weeks of heavy rains – have contributed to a deadly cholera outbreak and reports of corpses rotting in the Nile in Omdurman, one of the capital’s three cities.

In an update last week, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that war-related displacement and the spread of cholera have continued to add to needs across Sudan.

“We are deeply concerned and meeting the basic needs, especially food, will be critical and is urgent,” said WFP’s Mr. Bukera. “Urgent action is needed to restore basic services and accelerate recovery through coordinated efforts with local authorities, national NGOs, UN agencies and humanitarian partners.”

This vital work has been prevented by a lack of international support, forcing WFP to reduce the amount and range of relief it can distribute.

“Funding shortfalls are already disrupting some of the assistance we are providing in Khartoum, Blue Nile, Al Jazeera and Sennar states,” the WFP senior official continued. “Our rations and the oil and the pulses in the food basket had to be removed due to lack of resources.”

Rations cuts

In Khartoum, lifesaving nutritional supplements for young children and pregnant and nursing mothers are already “out of reach” because of a lack of resources, he said.

Despite the many challenges, the UN agency now reaches four million people a month across Sudan. This is nearly four times more than at the start of 2024 as access has expanded, including in previously unreachable areas like Khartoum.

Communities are also supported in the longer-term via cash assistance to support local markets and support for bakeries and small businesses planning to reopen.

“We have rapidly scaled up our operation to meet increasing needs,” Mr. Bukera said. “We are aiming to reach seven people on a monthly basis, prioritizing those facing famine or other areas at extreme risk”, such as Darfur, Kordofan and Al Jazeera.

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World News in Brief: UK cedes sovereignty over Chagos Islands, suffering in Sudan deepens, UN releases new emergency relief funds

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Before granting Mauritius independence in 1968, Britain unlawfully separated the Chagos archipelago to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In doing so, it expelled 1,500–2,000 islanders to lease Diego Garcia, the largest island, to the United States for joint military use.

Under the agreement, the UK will lease the island of Diego Garcia for the next 99 years to continue operating its joint military base with the United States.

Value of diplomacy

The agreement signed on Thursday between the UK and Mauritius is “a significant step towards resolving a long-standing dispute in the Indian Ocean region” and “demonstrates the value of diplomacy in addressing historical grievances”, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in Thursday’s briefing.

Welcoming the signature of the agreement, the UN Secretary-General, urged both the UK and Mauritius to “continue engaging in constructive discussion”, in order to ensure that “the rights and aspirations of the Chagossians people are fully respected,” said Mr. Dujarric.

Sudan: Civilian Suffering Deepens Amid Drone Strikes

The civil war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has killed over 18,000 people and displaced 13 million, triggering a regional migration crisis.

Even before the war, humanitarian conditions and human rights protections were fragile, but in the past two years, they have become dire.

Of the 30.4 million Sudanese in need of assistance, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is currently reaching 2.3 million with emergency food and nutrition support, as ongoing violence and infrastructure destruction compound the crisis.

Urgent ceasefire needed

Recent drone attacks on Port Sudan, once a vital entry point for aid, have further deepened the crisis. UN-designated expert Radhouane Nouicer warned Monday that these strikes on critical infrastructure “are putting lives at risk, worsening the humanitarian crisis, and violating basic human rights.”

On Thursday, Mr. Dujarric reported that attacks in Khartoum state have triggered a total electricity blackout, disrupting access to clean water and healthcare amid rising food prices and cholera outbreaks.

The blackout has exacerbated the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

Mr. Dujarric also noted that ongoing insecurity displaced 47,000 people from Khiwai and Nuhud in West Kordofan this month, while another 1,000 were displaced this week from Abu Shouk camp and El Fasher in North Darfur.

At the Arab League Summit in Iraq over the weekend, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent multilateral action to end “appalling violence, famine and mass displacement,” and met with African Union leaders to encourage a push for a ceasefire.

Emergency relief funds released for DR Congo

The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated new funds to crisis situations, from Afghanistan to Zambia.

On Wednesday, CERF made $750,000 available to support cholera response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.

The emergency funds will enable the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and partners to deliver critical aid, including timely cholera detection and response, medical treatment, risk communication, and community engagement.

In addition, CERF allocated $10 million to help more than 270,0000 people in vulnerable communities across South Sudan, where the threat of renewed civil war looms.

Ahead of the rainy season, CERF’s life-saving aid will notably target communities who have been impacted by overlapping crises, especially conflict and displacement in the states of Jonglei and Upper Nile.

CERF also allocated $9.5 million to support climate action initiatives in eight countries: Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Venezuela, and Zambia.

© UNICEF/Jospin Benekire

A UNICEF-supported cholera team add chlorine to water collected from a reservoir in Goma, in the DR Congo.

 

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Kenya: Refugees facing ‘lowest ever’ emergency food rations amid funding crisis

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Over the past five years, the refugee population in Kenya has surged by more than 70 per cent – from approximately 500,000 to 843,000 – driven largely by conflict and drought in neighbouring Sudan and Somalia. Of these, around 720,000 people are sheltering in the Dadaab and Kakuma camps, as well as the Kalobeyei settlement.

In Sudan, the civil war that erupted in April 2023 has killed over 18,000 people, displaced 13 million, and left 30.4 million in need of assistance, according to the UN.

WFP provides emergency food and nutrition support to 2.3 million Sudanese as violence and the collapse of essential infrastructure deepen the crisis. 

In Somalia, severe drought has placed 3.4 million people – including 1.7 million children – at risk of acute malnutrition.

At the weekend, Secretary-General António Guterres recommended that the Security Council ensure financing for the African Union’s Support and Stabilisation Mission there (UNSOM), as the country continues to battle insecurity and attacks from Al-Shabaab militants.

Shrinking rations, rising need 

Previously, a monthly WFP ration for a refugee in the camps included 8.1 kilogrammes of rice, 1.5 kg of lentils, 1.1 litres of oil, and cash for purchasing essentials. That support has now been halved, and cash payments have stopped entirely.

Without emergency funding, food rations could drop to just 28 per cent of their original level. WFP is appealing for $44 million to restore full food and cash assistance through August.

Cuts compound existing crises

Although cuts to foreign aid by many developed nations this year has further constrained operations, WFP began reducing services for Kenya’s refugee population in 2024.

Many of the families arriving are already food insecure, and Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates among children and pregnant or breastfeeding women exceed 13 per cent – three percent above the emergency threshold. Targeted nutrition programmes ended in late 2024 due to lack of resources.

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India’s first Nasal Vaccine against COVID- 19 gets nod for emergency use

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Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and its PSU, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has announced approval from DCGI for emergency use authorization first of its kind intranasal COVID-19 Vaccine to Bharat Biotech (BBIL).

Supported by DBT and BIRAC under the aegis of Mission COVID Suraksha, the mission was launched by DBT and implemented by BIRAC to reinforce and accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development efforts. Scientific leadership at various levels of vaccine development was provided by DBT laboratories and BIRAC. This is the fourth success story for the Covid-19 vaccine under mission Covid Suraksha.

BBV154 is an intranasal replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus SARS-CoV-2 vectored vaccine. It consists of a replication deficient ChAd vector expressing the stabilized Spike SARS-CoV-2 (Wuhan variant).

DBT’s Autonomous Institute, National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi utilized their “Human Immune Monitoring and T-cell Immunoassay Platform” to examine the vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2-specific systemic and mucosal cellular immune responses the trial participants.

Interactive Research School for Health Affairs (IRSHA), Pune completed the Plaque Reduction Neutralization Assay (PRNT) to quantify the neutralizing antibody for the virus from three trial sites.

Covid Suraksha

Dr Rajesh S Gokhale, Secretary, DBT, and Chairperson, BIRAC speaking on the subject said that “The Department through Mission COVID Suraksha, is committed to the development of safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccines.

BBV154 COVID Vaccine is the first intranasal vaccine approved by DCGI for primary immunization against COVID-19 in the 18+ age group for restricted use in emergency situation being developed in the country under Mission COVID Suraksha and adds to India’s COVID-19 vaccine series.

“This is an excellent example of Aatmanirbharta initiative of the Government of India. I congratulate our scientists for partnering with Bharat Biotech and providing scientific leadership throughout the development of first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine,” said Gokhale.