With monsoon hitting Bangladesh, WHO warns that life-saving health services for 1.3 million people—Rohingya refugees and host communities— living in Cox’s Bazar are under serious threat, unless urgent funding is secured.
Scaling up health operations since September 2017, WHO and health partners have supported the Government of Bangladesh in saving thousands of lives of refugees who crossed over from Myanmar in large numbers in a very short span of time. Given the high risk of outbreaks among the refugees in overcrowded, unsanitary camps, WHO prioritized disease control from the outset.
WHO rapidly set up a vital disease early warning system, and together with government and partners administered over 3 million doses of life- saving vaccines against deadly diseases such as cholera, measles, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and polio. When an outbreak of diphtheria was detected, WHO responded rapidly, bringing in international experts, emergency medical teams and medicines and medical supplies.
To protect communities from a potential cholera outbreak during monsoon season, WHO and partners began a massive oral cholera vaccination campaign on 6 May. Nearly one million Rohingyas and their host community will be targeted. This is the third oral cholera vaccination campaign that builds on two rounds of vaccination last year that reached around 900,000 people.
WHO and partners have been constantly working towards scaling up delivery of other essential health services for the refugees. For example, a mother now knows that when her child falls ill, there is a clinic to which she can go and receive care for her child. WHO is supporting the expansion of the district hospital in Cox’s Bazar so that it can better respond to the additional patient load of the refugees. WHO also established a much-needed laboratory at the local medical college. Services for reproductive health, mental health and chronic diseases continue to expand.
“Collective efforts are being made with the Government of Bangladesh and other health partners to meet urgent needs of the Rohingya refugees. This is a very difficult emergency setting, but we have so far been able to avert a major public health crisis. These collaborative efforts need to continue and to be strengthened further in view of the risks in the ongoing rainy season,” said Dr Roderico Ofrin, Regional Emergency Director.
But these gains are at imminent risk – and the health of refugees remains under threat. The first reported landsides occurred in Camp 4 in Ukhia killing one person and injuring two, which is a clear sign that the monsoons have arrived in Bangladesh, and preparedness efforts must be accelerated.
Nearly 65 of the 226 health facilities in the camps are at risk of flooding and landslides. Many more may become unreachable. WHO is also concerned about increased risk of diseases such as diarrhoea, respiratory illnesses and malaria, in crowded camps when health services may be less accessible. Water and sanitation conditions still remain far from optimal and will only get worse with flooding. The cyclone season also looms.
For the past few months, WHO and partners have been preparing for the monsoon and cyclone seasons by mapping out health facilities at risk of floods and landslides, prepositioning medical equipment and supplies, further strengthening preparedness for outbreaks and training mobile medical teams for immediate deployment.
The other major risk is lack of funding. In spite of the extraordinary generosity of the Government of Bangladesh and the remarkable efforts of health partners, resources are incredibly scarce. The Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, an overall response plan of all agencies, was launched seeking for US$ 113.1 million for the health sector. So far, only 3.4% of the funds have been secured. For 2018, WHO has appealed for US$ 16.5 million, but has not secured the funding yet.
“Without funding, Cox’s Bazar remains a fragile operation and we risk losing the huge gains made so far. WHO’s future response plans are entirely dependent on donors. We have enough resources to run our operations until the end of June, which is when the rainy season will be in full swing. And we are not alone, many of our partners are in a similar dire financial situation. The international community must urgently find the funds to support the refugees and their host Bangladesh at this critical time,” said Dr Richard Brennan, Director of Emergency Operations.