UN leads bid to help 135 countries get vital COVID-19 medical kit, amid severe global shortages

UNDP/Fahad Kaizer

With support from UNDP, community workers in Bangladesh are working on the ground distributing hygiene packages and promoting coronavirus prevention awareness.

    

28 April 2020

Health

A major UN-led initiative is under way to secure supplies of key medical equipment for 135 low to medium-income countries facing down the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 taskforce initiative follows a direct request to WHO from UN Secretary-General António Guterres to coordinate the Organization’s response to the new coronavirus.

Demand 200 times greater than normal

Coronavirus Portal & News Updates

Readers can find information and guidance on the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from the UN, World Health Organization and UN agencies here.For daily news updates from UN News, click here.

It comes amid unprecedented global shortages of critical supplies, skyrocketing prices and export bans, said Paul Molinaro, Chief, Operations Support and Logistics, WHO Health Emergencies Programme.

“The demand has obviously increased in those markets 100 or 200 times normal demand”, he told journalists via video conference. “On the supply side we saw a lot of shutdowns in manufacturing, we saw a lot of export controls, we saw the international air transport system on which we’re quite dependent for the movement of cargo, gradually shut down, so we’re at the point where we need to look for solutions to this.”

As part of the collective effort by the UN and public and private partners, a dedicated “COVID-19 Supply Portal” is set to launch within days, offering countries the opportunity to submit supply requests via a single platform.

This will enable the humanitarian supply chain system “to plan and coordinate allocation of critical supplies” to those 135 countries deemed to be most vulnerable, WHO said in a statement: “We need to streamline demand at country level to really look at the highest priority and to try and get the numbers to something manageable and coordinated,” Mr Molinaro said, highlighting the first of the initiative’s four priorities. 

“Step two is collaborative procurement amongst ourselves in the UN and some of our key partners in approaching the market together. This gives us a bigger voice, particularly in a constrained market with a lot of intense competition”, he added. 

“The third part is allocation process based on vulnerabilities and gaps and on critical needs. And then the fourth step – in light of difficulties with transportation – is to create a unified transport system, and this is something our partners are currently doing, particularly WFP.”

Focus moves to weaker health systems

Health workers in Guyana learn how to safely dress in personal protective equipment (PPE)., by PAHO/WHO Guyana

After raising the alarm earlier this year about the health threat posed by the new coronavirus that emerged in central China in December, the WHO announced that it was stepping up support to countries with beleaguered public health systems.

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Syria: As coronavirus threat intensifies, ceasefire more urgent than ever

© UNICEF/Khalil Ashawi

Syrian families sought safety in Afrin in January 2020, in north rural Aleppo governorate, after fleeing conflict in Idlib.

    

29 April 2020

Peace and Security

Syria desperately needs a nationwide ceasefire to enable its war-weary citizens to access the equipment and resources necessary to combat COVID-19, the UN’s top envoy for the country told the Security Council on Wednesday.  

“We cannot afford hostilities which would surely lead to another surge in displaced vulnerable communities”, Geir O. Pedersen said via video-teleconference. “We could not afford this scenario before the pandemic; the price could only be higher now”.

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Dozens reported killed in Afrin

Just yesterday, a bomb detonated in a crowded market on the country’s Turkish border in the north-western city of Afrin, reportedly killing more than 40 people.

The governor of the neighbouring Turkish border province of Hatay said a fuel tanker rigged with a hand grenade exploded amidst the crowd.

Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the “horrific bombing” and extended his “heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives”

The UN chief reiterated his called for “a complete and immediate ceasefire throughout Syria to enable comprehensive efforts to address COVID-19”, adding that “those who violate international humanitarian and human rights law must be held accountable”.

The Regional Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ted Chaiban, said it was “tragic that 11 children were reportedly killed and many more were injured”, adding that “the death toll might be much higher”.  

Back in 2018, an escalation of violence in Afrin drove nearly 56,000 children to other parts of Syria, and 10 years into the brutal conflict, “children continue to be hit the hardest by unprecedented levels of violence, destruction and death”, he said. “Violence breeds more violence”. 

Meanwhile, the UN Special Envoy told the Council he had been speaking with a range of key players involved in talks to end the more than nine year civil war, to facilitate progress on the political track and to sustain ceasefire arrangements.

The envoy welcomed the “significant calm” in much of the country pointing out that Russian-Turkish arrangements, including joint patrols, in the northwest have made “a positive difference on the ground” and that ceasefire arrangements between Russia, Turkey and the US in the northeast also “continue to broadly hold”. 

But he conceded that there is “an uneasy and fragile calm” in the north, with looming escalation risks, such as a resurgence by ISIL extremists, and Israeli airstrikes in Homs and Damascus, which were reported on Monday.  

Fighting COVID as one

COVID-19 caseloads in Syria have been relatively low, with 42 cases reported in Government-controlled areas thus far; one case in the north-east and none reported in the north-west; but Mr. Pedersen maintained that the trend lines would be important to monitor in the coming weeks. 

While the Syrian Government, the opposition and other de facto authorities are taking significant steps to combat the virus, a lack of sufficient testing, health professionals, medical equipment and supplies are hamstringing the response.

“The healthcare system is degraded in some areas and destroyed in others”, explained Mr. Pedersen, reiterating the need for “full, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access”.

Coronavirus Portal & News Updates

Readers can find information and guidance on the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from the UN, World Health Organization and UN agencies here.For daily news updates from UN News, click here.

Women under pressure

The Women’s Advisory Board emphasized to the UN envoy that women are at the forefront of community-based initiatives, raising awareness and preventing the COVID-19 spread as well as carrying additional caregiving responsibilities at home due to the movement restrictions.

The board consists of diverse women from civil society, as an independent source of expertise. Mr. Pedersen said members were concerned over the heightened risk of domestic violence during home isolation and that COVID-19 responses would gradually push women back into traditional and marginalized roles.

Take the ‘responsible path’

Mr. Pedersen reiterated his appeal for “a nationwide ceasefire and an all-out effort to ensure that Syrians across the country will have access to the equipment and resources needed to combat and treat COVID-19”.

He offered to work with the all the “relevant players on the ground” and countries with influence. 

Working together in a common effort to support calm and scale up the pandemic response “is the only responsible path”, according to the UN envoy. 

“There is no military solution to the Syria crisis”. 

“We must act on our common humanity, help build trust and confidence…to move towards a political settlement that can meet the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people”, he concluded.

‘Tragedy beckons’

In an afternoon briefing to the Council, Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock warned that if the coronavirus pandemic behaves in Syria as it has elsewhere, “then tragedy beckons”.

“We cannot expect a health care system decimated by almost a decade of war to cope with a crisis that is challenging even the wealthiest nations”, he stated. “We cannot expect mitigation measures to succeed where millions are displaced in crowded conditions, without adequate sanitation, and no assets or safety net to fall back on”. 

While noting a “modest increase” in testing capacity, Mr. Lowcock maintained that it remains “vastly insufficient”, and is a humanitarian priority.

COVID-19 “compounds the impact of Syria’s severe economic crisis”, according to the relief chief, who relayed that according to the World Food Programme (WFP) over the past year, basic food prices have jumped more than 100 per cent.

And despite the ceasefire, the humanitarian situation in the north-west remains as “dismal as it has ever been” with “alarming” levels of stunting and malnutrition among pregnant and breastfeeding women.

“It is simply impossible to sustain the scale and scope of assistance into the north-west without the cross-border operation”, he asserted, “there is no alternative”.

Courtesy:UN News

UN prepares for potentially devastating COVID-19 outbreak in conflict-ravaged northeast Nigeria

Samuel Akoehomen/IOM

Covid-19 sensitization with WaSH committee at Bama GSSSS camp, 27 March 2020.

    

30 April 2020

Health

In northeast Nigeria, where armed conflict has forced millions from their homes, the UN’s migration agency, IOM, is supporting the construction of quarantine shelters, as the region braces for an outbreak of COVID-19 which, it warns, would have ‘devastating consequences’ for those who have been displaced. 

Displaced people there already face outbreaks of several deadly diseases, including cholera, malaria and measles, and fighting has severely weakened the health system: more than a third of facilities have been destroyed in attacks, and there is limited access to drinking water and sanitation infrastructure. 

IOM fears an outbreak of COVID-19 would exacerbate the current situation, placing further stress on disrupted health systems, and potentially overwhelm the response capacity of international humanitarian agencies. A rise in cases is also likely to increase current projections of people in need.

Crisis on all fronts

Aftermath of attack on Ngala humanitarian hub, 18 January 2020 , by UNOCHA

COVID-19 is arriving in northeast Nigeria with the region some ten years into a brutal conflict that has led to around 7.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. 2019 saw an upsurge in violence, and more than 180,000 people fled their homes. 

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WHO strategy to lift Corona virus restrictios

UN health agency working on strategies to gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions

UN Photo/Evan Schneider

A wide view of Grand Central Terminal with an unusually sparse crowd during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in New York City.

    

10 April 2020

Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with countries on strategies to "gradually and safely" ease stay-at-home restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus, agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists on Friday, though he cautioned against any sudden action.

"WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone", he said.

"At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly".

Tedros laid out six factors for consideration, which include that transmission is controlled and sufficient public health and medical services are available.

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International sport day moves indoors, with plea to stay active during self-isolation

UN News/Anton Uspensky

Outdoor group sports have been banned in New York to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

    

6 April 2020

Health

Running tracks, gyms and swimming pools may be closed, as part of government-imposed lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is more important than ever to remain physically active. This is the message on this year’s International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. 

With more and more people stuck indoors for most of the day, it can be a struggle to remain physically and mentally healthy. However, the UN health agency (WHO) insists that it is more important than ever, and is achievable, even in small spaces, and without any equipment.

There is also a wide range of free and accessible online tools, such as videos and fitness apps, giving tips on working out from home, and other ways to stay healthy.

WHO is recommending that all healthy adults do at least 30 minutes of exercise per day, and children at least an hour a day. To support the international day, the health agency’s #BeActive campaign is encouraging people to try at least one of the following ways to get fit at home: online exercises classes, dancing, playing active video games, jumping rope, or practicing muscle strength and balance training.

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