You are the partner responding to the WHO official’s request for help. Explain t

Question

You are the partner responding to the WHO official’s request for help. Explain to the WHO official why your organization will agree to help and the skills/expertise your organization has helping in such an emergency. Also, ask the WHO official any questions you still may have regarding the emergency and what the WHO plans to do about it. Respond in your own words in 200 words. Add a credible source as well with its link.

WHO Official's request:

To the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation –

            I am writing to you to express the emergent state of the recent measles outbreak in Somalia and to ask for your assistance. At this time, Somalia is experiencing a crippling measles outbreak with 19,000 suspected cases in 2017, for which 80% affected are children under 10 years old.1 Most recent mortality data from the CDC provide 1-2 deaths per 1000 children affected by measles, which here represents 15-30 children this year.2 In your work to reduce health inequities and the burden of infectious disease, your help is needed now in Somalia to increase vaccination efforts.3 As of 2016, 85% of children worldwide had received one dose of measles vaccine prior to their second birthday though Somalia’s rate was only 60%.4 Somalia’s war torn, severely impoverished and famine-stricken peoples’ often live in remote locations, unable to access healthcare.4 The World Health Organization (WHO), supported by multiple international government agencies, provided 600,000 measles vaccination to children aged 6 months to 5 years this year, but the crisis continues with infection still rampant. One largescale vaccination effort took place in Modagishu in early Spring 2017 where rurally displaced peoples have migrated over the years.5 Since November 2016, 680,000 people have been displaced by ongoing drought, leading them to move into urban centers like Mogadishu. With this population shift, changing climate, poor vaccination rates and malnourishment, children are left most vulnerable to this resurgence in measles.5

            The WHO and Somalian Federal Ministry of Health have been conducting public health trainings to raise awareness of this outbreak locally, though we at WHO need further financial support to expand our vaccination efforts. The recent vaccination campaign enacted in 2017 cost $14 million, though we anticipate needing to duplicate such an effort to bring Somalia from its 60% vaccination rates closer to the minimum goal of 95% to achieve full herd immunity for the populace at large.1,5 The WHO was responsible for half this sum during the prior campaign with the other half supported by Japan, Germany, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), the Polio Global Eradication Initiative, the UN Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).1 We ask for your support of at least $1 million to support our next wide scale immunization effort to slow and hopefully reverse this preventable crisis. One of the major problems we are facing now is that typical international supporters, like the United States Agency for International Development, are significantly limiting their support given its domestic political climate and a clamp placed on expanding most foreign aid opportunities. With your longstanding commitment to ensuring the health of the world’s children and limiting morbidity from preventable infectious disease, we hope to count on your support at this critical time for the Somalian people.3

In health,

Evan Barnathan, MD

References:

Sultany A. WHO enhances surveillance capacity in Somalia ahead of nationwide measles campaign. World Health Organization Web site.http://www.emro.who.int/som/somalia-news/who-enhances-surveillance-capacity-in-somalia-ahead-of-nationwide-measles-campaign.html. Updated 2018. Accessed February 18, 2018.

Measles. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/complications.html. Updated February 5, 2018. Accessed February 18, 2018.

What We Do. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Web site. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do. Updated 2018. Accessed February 18, 2018.

Immunization Coverage. World Health Organization Web site. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs378/en/. Updated 2018. Accessed February 18, 2018.

Measles vaccination campaign launched in Mogadishu. World Health Organization Web site. http://www.emro.who.int/som/somalia-news/measles-vaccination-campaign-launched-in-mogadishu.html. Updated 2018. Accessed February 18, 2018.

Explanation / Answer

To,

Evan Barnathan, MD

WHO

We, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, feel deeply honored to receive this request, as we strongly believe that "All lives have equal value". In agreement with our vision to 1) to ensure better survival rates of children and young people and 2) to combat infectious diseases that particularly affect the poorest, we have endorsed a shared vision- the Decade of Vaccines- with nearly 200 countries around the globe to extend the benefits of vaccine to every person by 2020. This has culminated in the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), a framework to ensure more equitable access to existing vaccines for people from all communities. Your request to extend our monetary support to the next wide-scale immunization programme is an opportunity for us to address the disproportionately large burden of disease suffered by the Somalian people.

Additionally, we believe that WHO can leverage our experience and expertise in the field of vaccine delivery to reap success in the upcoming immunization effort. We have made direct investments and also through our collaborative partners to achieve speedy delivery of vaccines to the affected areas, introduce a new array of vaccines, provide sufficient funds to buy vaccines and also the technical support to countries with greatest needs. Our partners and volunteers do timely assesment of population immunity for a disease by collecting and analysing high-quality vaccine related data, which helps in evaluating the vaccination efforts and developing novel diagnostic tools. We also take interest in strengthening vaccine-related supply chains and logistics, prepare and improve the storage, transportation and distribution conditions for vaccines, most of which are temperature sensitive and require special storage and handling to maintain their potency. In this context, we also aim at building novel technologies or tools for vaccine registration, tracking and mapping. We promote education campaigns to create awareness regarding the seriousness of an epidemic, an infectious disease and the importance of vaccines. We also advocate fully funded delivery systems that perform routine immunization programmes. Improvising existing vaccines in terms of reducing the dosage of antigen or ensuring easy administration of vaccines, is also another area that requires our funds. Improvisations such as heat-stabilised vaccines (no requirement to refrigerate), use of new adjuvants (to reduce antigen per dose) or needle-free delivery systems are among the many developments that are currently supported by our organisation. We are also working with private industry to understand the market dynamics such that the vaccines are delivered at the lowest possible cost. All these efforts are aimed towards the successful sustainability of an existing or a novel vaccine. In fact, we acknowledge any small or big efforts towards innovative vaccine delivery that have resulted in considerable improvements in the immunization coverage in a particular community.

The concerns regarding the current political climate and the restriction on expanding foreign aid opportunities will surely impede the progress of any immunization efforts. But there are certain concerns that we have regarding the emergeny as well. 1) Are the affected people or communities aware of the intensity of this outbreak? Are they acquainted with the signs and symptoms of measles? 2) How effective is the surveillance system in containing the outbreak? 3) Are the affected individuals being taken care of in isolation to limit the spread of this infectious disease? 4) Are preventive measures being taken to save unaffected children from contracting the disease ? 5) Are the relatives of the affected children proactive to seek medical care?

In light of the raising concern and for initiating an immunization effort to prevent such a crisis, we look forward to extending our monetary support without further delay. We hope that our small contribution makes a large difference in changing the present scenario at Somalia.

With Regards,

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse Y
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.