UN AGENCIES SEEK FUNDS FOR YELLOW FEVER VACCINE STOCKPILE

UN AGENCIES SEEK FUNDS FOR YELLOW FEVER VACCINE STOCKPILE
New York, May 26 2009 1:00PM
United Nations agencies and their partners are appealing for funds to replenish the global emergency supply of yellow fever vaccine, warning that if stocks run out by next year as expected, the disease could break out in the poorest countries.

Most children and adults in five of the 12 most vulnerable African countries are now protected from contracting yellow fever thanks to recent vaccination campaigns, but without further funding millions of people will still be at risk of the disease, according to a news release issued by the World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Both WHO and <"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF are part of the International Coordinating Group on Yellow Fever Vaccine, which warned that there is no funding to cover vaccination campaigns once the present stockpile is depleted.

"We have to finish the job we started or the good work that has been done will be lost," said Dr. Edward Hoekstra of UNICEF. "If the stockpile of yellow fever vaccine is allowed to run out, countries that have not yet been reached by immunization campaigns will be unfairly burdened with the disease."

The five countries that have completed vaccination campaigns so far are Togo, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. There have been no outbreaks in those countries since the vaccination campaigns were completed.

Dr. Hoekstra said there is a need to further roll out the programme to protect the remaining 150 million children and adults still at risk for the disease in the region.

"If we do not sustain this programme, yellow fever outbreaks will continue to affect populations who can least afford it," said Dr. Fenella Avokey of the WHO African Regional Office.

Yellow fever is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes. The disease is endemic in forest areas and people are at greatest risk at the end of the rainy season. According to WHO, an estimated 206,000 cases and 52,000 deaths occur every year.

The International Coordinating Group also includes Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
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ICRC News Release - Pakistan: ICRC enters Buner for first time since onset of hostilities

ICRC News Release No. 09/101

13 May 2009

Peshawar (ICRC) – As fighting in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) continues unabated, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today entered Buner, one of hardest-hit areas, for the first time since the onset of hostilities.

With the consent of the parties to the conflict, ICRC staff took stock of the humanitarian situation and delivered medicines and surgical materials to the main hospital in the district.

"We went into Buner as soon as we could," said Dr Bart Janssens, the ICRC's health coordinator in Pakistan, who led the operation. "You can see the scars of recent fighting. There is no more electricity or clean drinking water. Most shops are closed. Goods on the market are scarce. The streets feel empty. The district is rapidly being emptied of its inhabitants."

In the coming days the ICRC hopes to bring more aid to the civilian population left behind. Its ability to do so, however, will depend on security guarantees being provided by all the parties to the conflict.

Over 500,000 people have fled conflict areas in the NWFP in recent days. The ICRC is working closely with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society to provide shelter, food, water, sanitation and health care for displaced people (IDPs) in the Malakand and Swabi districts. The ICRC is also attending to the needs of people left behind in Buner, Swat and Lower Dir.