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Kenya + 2 more

UNICEF Kenya Humanitarian Situation Report, 4 November 2017

Attachments

Highlights

  • WHO has declared Kenya on alert due to high risk of contamination from the Marburg outbreak in Uganda and the Plague outbreak in Madagascar, Preparedness and preventive actions are ongoing.

  • The Nurses’ strike was officially called off on 2nd November.

  • In 2017, a total of 339,971 children have benefitted from health services through emergency teams and campaigns to mitigate the negative effects of the nurse’s trike on health coverage.

  • From 1 January to 30 September 2017, a total of 59,446 severely malnourished children (75.3% of annual target) and 114,090 moderately malnourished children (58.6% of annual target) have been admitted for treatment.

  • During the reporting period, 215,737 people in Baringo, Garissa, Marsabit, Samburu, Turkana, Tana River and Wajir Counties gained permanent access to safe water through repair of boreholes.

  • The Kenya 2017 HAC appeal has a funding gap of 38% and without additional funding, UNICEF will be unable to optimally support the drought emergency response and mitigate the risks for children.

SITUATION IN NUMBERS

3.4 million People are food insecure (2017 Long Rains Assessment, August 2017)

3.5 million People are in urgent need of safe drinking water (Ministry of Water and Irrigation, June 2017)

1.6 million Children are food insecure (2017 Long Rains Assessment, June 2017)

104,614 Children under 5 in need of SAM treatment (Nutrition SMART Surveys, July 2017, total caseload)

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

After 150 days of the nurses’ national strike which begun on 5th June 2017, the Nurses union officially called off the strike on 2nd November 2017 and ordered resumption of duties by all the nurses. The strike has been affecting routine and emergency health, HIV and nutrition services across the country, negatively impacting the health sector indicators especially for maternal and child health. The union has signed a return-to-work agreement with the Council of Governors and the resolution of the crisis has been positively received by all stakeholders.

WHO has declared Kenya on alert due to high risk of contamination from the Marburg outbreak in Uganda and the Plague outbreak in Madagascar. The Ministry of Health has started preparedness actions including Marburg alerts, training, identification of isolation facilities and heightened surveillance in counties bordering Uganda. One suspected Marburg case in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County tested negative for both Ebola and Marburg by the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and contact tracing process is ongoing. The Ministry of Health (MoH) has confirmed a new measles outbreak in IFO2, Dadaab refugee camp, with three cases confirmed. According to the latest MoH disease outbreak situation report, Marsabit County has reported an outbreak of Malaria, with 1257 total reported cases and 25 deaths (Case Fatality Rate of 1.9%). Seven counties currently have active cholera outbreaks: Nairobi, Kajiado, Garissa, Embu, Kirinyaga, Muranga and Turkana. From 1st January 2017, 3,518 cases have been reported, resulting in 66 deaths (Case Fatality Rate of 1.9%).

The Kenya Meteorological Department reports that most parts of the country have experienced the onset of the short rains season and by the end of October, localised floods in Turkana and Isiolo counties resulted in 451 households affected and 75 households displaced in Isiolo. In early November, significant amounts of rainfall were reported in the Northeast and Coastal regions. The month of November is the peak of the rainy season, and most parts of the country are expected to continue experiencing seasonal rainfall, though with reduced intensities. The National Drought Management Authority latest report indicates that Isiolo County is worst hit by drought with resulting in severe vegetation deficit. Other counties with significant vegetation deficit due to the ongoing drought conditions include Wajir, Marsabit, Kajiado Mandera, Samburu, Mwingi, Kitui and Tana River. The northern part of Garissa is still very dry, while the southern part has significantly improved due to recent rains. In several counties, worsening environmental conditions are increasing inter-communal tension.

Education partners have also reported increasing water shortages in ASAL counties, especially in Marsabit, Garissa, Isiolo, Wajir, Tharaka Nithi and Baringo East where schools are reporting difficulties for preparing school meals due to lack of water.

The ongoing vegetation deficit is having have a negative effect on livestock body condition and milk production. Given that children in the affected counties rely heavily on milk for their daily nutrition needs, this has a direct negative consequence on their nutritional status. In October, through integrated health and nutrition outreaches,17,639 children were screened in Turkana, Baringo, Kajiado, Marsabit, Isiolo, Wajir, West Pokot and Mandera counties, of which 3,441 (19.5%) were identified as acutely malnourished, illustrating a slight reduction in the numbers identified from previous months. Furthermore, 3,836 pregnant and lactating women were also screened in the same counties, 785 (20.4%) were identified as acutely malnourished and admitted to the nutrition programme. The highest number of admissions continue to be witnessed in Illeret, North Horr, Marsabit County, moving from alarm to emergency levels on the IMAM Surge threshold. SAM admissions increased from 55 cases in September to 111 cases in October, while MAM admissions increased from 77 cases in September to 352 cases in October. This has been driven in part by inward migration from Ethiopia with most of the admissions coming from villages along the border.