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UN helps Ethiopia improve emergency health readiness

UN helps Ethiopia improve emergency health readiness

Eric Laroche, Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crisis for WHO
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today pledged support to strengthen Ethiopia’s emergency preparedness and improve conditions for people confronted by the food security crisis, cross-border displacement and communicable diseases.

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today pledged support to strengthen Ethiopia’s emergency preparedness and improve conditions for people confronted by the food security crisis, cross-border displacement and communicable diseases.

“WHO wants to help these health actors expand and strengthen these efforts so we build on the health gains that have been made and improve the level of health and nutritional care available to the population,” Eric Laroche, the agency’s top humanitarian relief official, said in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Dr. Laroche, Assistant-Secretary-General for WHO’s Health Action in Crises, welcomed major achievements that have been made in the Horn of Africa country, including the control of meningitis, in which a major outbreak was contained with the distribution of at least 2 million doses of vaccine, and acute watery diarrhoeal diseases, where mortality has been cut by 50 per cent. WHO contributed in both cases.

WHO has placed increasing emphasis on strengthening community-level health facilities by preparing guidelines, training and health materials to make local workers more able to respond to the various challenges they face.

During his visit Dr. Laroche met with Ethiopian Health Minister Shiferaw Teklemariam.