Day: February 14, 2022

The Ministry of Health, with support from the Irish Government, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, recently launched an accelerated COVID-19 vaccination campaign at the Boma Grounds in Moroto, to drive up the COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The campaign is targeting 9 districts in the Karamoja region to increase vaccine uptake from the current 16% to more than 90%.

The target districts include Abim, Amudat, Kaabong, Karenga and Kotido. The other districts are Moroto, Nabilatuk, Nakapiripirit and Napak and they will benefit from over 500,000 vaccine doses which will be administered to all eligible persons. The vaccines were acquired through the

During the campaign launch, the Minister of Health, Honorable Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said, “while Uganda is currently experiencing a decrease in the new COVID-19 cases, vaccination which was very instrumental in bringing the cases down should be promoted and taken up by all who are eligible.”

She mentioned that vaccination coupled with other public health measures including and not limited to social distancing, the appropriate wearing of masks is the only effective way Uganda will fight the pandemic.

“Although we are currently out of a danger, as shown by the current positivity rate standing at 2%, the mortality rate continues to go up especially for the elderly who are unvaccinated. Let us vaccinate, and those who are above 50 years of age get your booster shots,” she said.

She further appreciated all partners including Irish AID, WHO and UNICEF for the continued support in the COVID-19 response.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine re-echoed the Minister’s message calling on the people of Karamoja and Uganda at large to use the vaccines provided by the Ministry and partners. “If we vaccinate, we are safer, however, the lack of vaccination will lead to a stretch in the health system. Let us follow the guidance from the Ministry of Health and WHO,” she said.

The WHO Representative in Uganda Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam speaking on behalf of WHO and UNICEF pointed out, “as seen from current statistics, Uganda has not yet reached its target but with the Accelerated Mass Vaccination Campaigns, I am opportunistic that each district will achieve a coverage of 70% by April 2022.”

He further said that through the generous support from partners like the Irish Government, WHO was able to extend both financial and technical support to this accelerated mass vaccination campaign in Karamoja region. It’s expected that the campaign will reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID 19 in the region.

“We also need to prioritize vaccination in schools and as such once we achieve optimal coverage of the over 18 years, we can move to vaccinate the under 18 years as the next phase,” he mentioned.

“Vaccines save lives! But we must continue to observe standard operating procedures, including wearing masks, cleaning hands, good indoor ventilation, keeping physical distance and avoiding crowds,” Dr Yonas concluded.

Whereas the Karamoja region has received adequate quantities of vaccines since the launch of the nationwide vaccine rollout on March 10, 2021, its uptake has remained very low giving a 16% coverage based on the first dose of those above eighteen years (target 598,727), as of 1st February 2022. A total of 106,873 first doses and 23,741 had been administered.

The necessity to reduce the economic impact of the outbreak motivated the Ministry of Health to change course for the narrow prioritization around only high-risk groups to all the vulnerable in a fast-tracked accelerated mass campaign strategy.

WHO’s mandate is to support the Ministry of Health and partners develop capacity and health systems. Vaccinating 598,727 will not only allow increased access to the vaccine by a good proportion of the vulnerable population, which is nomadic pastoralists for the most part but will also eliminate any possibility for wastage of the scarce commodities that are received with a very short shelf life.

The WHO support with funding from the Irish Government includes mobilization and training of additional health workers, intensive social mobilization including mapping and pre-registration of the elderly, conduct vaccination campaigns by region over a period of seven days for the two rounds.

The estimated cost for the two rounds in the Karamoja sub-region is $313,935. In addition, WHO will facilitate real-time data management, strengthen safety surveillance and monitoring and evaluation through coverage survey.

Source: World Health Organization. Africa

Honourable Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth launched the national population-based survey report among people who use drugs on 10 February 2022 at the Sir H. Vaghjee Hall in Port Louis. Her Excellency Mrs Christine Umutoni, UN Resident Coordinator for Mauritius and Seychelles; WHO Representative, Dr Laurent Musango; Dr S. Appadoo, Coordinator, National Drug Secretariat and other personalities attended the official ceremony.

The World Health Organization and the UNRC office collaborated with the national authorities in addressing the lack of evidence-based information on drug use at the national level through the recruitment of an international expert to conduct the survey as well as several Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Surveys among drug users from December 2020 to May 2021.

The Prime Minister said that the Government alone cannot fight the drug war and the magnitude of the drug problem requires all stakeholders to engage in collaborative platforms to ensure that policies and strategies are implemented based on evidence-based information.

The findings and recommendation of the survey report will provide policy-makers, programme managers, and practitioners, with information that will improve understanding of the causes of drug abuse for target actions to delay or prevent initiation of substance use and reduce harms related to drugs, said Hon. P. K. Jugnauth.

“Evidenced-based information will help to shed light on changing patterns of drug use and set the pace for stronger monitoring of programmes and policies,” said the Prime Minister. The latter acknowledged the contribution of the UN Resident Coordinator Office and the World Health Organization and the International Consultant, Dr Lisa Johnson in this initiative.

The national survey report complements further the existing materials and documents such as the National Drug Control Master Plan 2019-2023 elaborated by the Government of Mauritius with UNODC support. The four pillars of the Plan being drug Supply Reduction, embracing law enforcement and financial crimes; drug Demand Reduction, comprising drug use prevention, drug use disorders treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration; harm Reduction, such as methadone maintenance therapy and the needle Exchange programme; and finally a coordination mechanism relating to legislation, implementation framework, monitoring and evaluation and strategic information.

Her Excellency Mrs C. Umutoni advocated for concerted effort to address this global problem and emphasized that it is in this spirit that the UN forged a partnership in Mauritius. She expressed satisfaction as regards the people-centered and participatory approach put in place by the Government to address the drug problem in the country .

The UN Resident Coordinator underlined the importance of engaging in measuring and surveillance to efficiently tackle the drug issue. Evidenced-based information available in the report will help to save lives and enable targeted interventions at the policy-making level.

Dr L. Musango, the WHO Representative, in his address stated that the launching of the survey report on drug use in Mauritius is a milestone in terms of the availability of evidence-based information on drug use. The survey report is filling a gap that was often highlighted in the past, he said.

“The situation in Mauritius regarding the drug phenomenon is constantly evolving, especially with the rise in the trafficking and use of synthetic drugs during the past recent years,” highlighted Dr L. Musango. He added, “the availability of evidence-based information is crucial for timely mobilization of resources and upstream actions to reduce and eliminate the health damages caused by drug use such as overdose and loss of life.”

Dr Musango underlined “the vulnerability of young people to start using drug very early at the young ages, that is less than 24 years old, and how they are targeted by the market.” He stressed the emotional, health, and social impact of the drug problem among youth in society.

WHO Representative extended his support in implementing the recommendations of the report especially in the national efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination of people with drug user disorders as this can be a barrier to access services; to promote access to appropriate, affordable, and friendly treatments so that drug users can successfully come out of this problem and lead a healthy and safe life; promote a multisectoral, integrated approach and support to address drug use among the population; and to monitor changes in drug use behaviors and evaluate the impact of interventions so that we know where to best direct our efforts.

Dr L. Musango expressed on my behalf and on behalf of the Regional Director of the African Region, Dr Moeti and the Director-General of WHO Dr. Tedros, his appreciation to the Prime Minister of Mauritius for his leadership and commitment and the efforts of the Government in addressing the drug problem in Mauritius. The leading role of the Prime Minister in chairing the COVID-19 High-Level Committee and leading actions to fight the pandemic as well as in promoting physical activity; in the prevention and control of Noncommunicable Diseases, and in improving the health infrastructure and equipment in Mauritius, among others, was highly appreciated by WHO. Dr Musango reiterated the commitment of WHO in supporting the country at the three levels of the organization, that is the country level, regional, and Head Quarters level to protect the population from the drug scourge and promote a healthier population.

Mauritius has set have set out a series of policies and actions to address the proliferation of drugs including law enforcement to combat trafficking under the National Drug Control Masterplan in 2019-2023, developed in collaboration with the United Nations. The authorities have set up a dedicated centre for the rehabilitation of youngsters with substance use problems in 2018 and five Addiction Units are operational in the different regions to facilitate access to health services. A Drug Offenders Administrative Panel will be set up by the country, an initiative based on a human rights approach in the treatment of people having substance use disorders, to improve treatment and rehabilitation. The national response to the drug issue is overseen and led by the High-Level Drugs And HIV Council since January 2019.

Source: World Health Organization. Africa

Situation Overview

During this period, the population of refugees in the DRC has decreased from 522,172 on 31/12/2021 to 521,903 on 31/01/2022, a decrease of 269 Burundian refugees repatriated to their country of origin from the camp of Lusenda in the province of Sud Kivu.

The number of asylum seekers remained the same as on 01/01/2022 (63 Central Africans, 1,114 Burundians, 74 Rwandans, 731 South Sudanese and 240 other nationalities).

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees