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Papua New Guinea: Asia and the Pacific: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (6 -12 Oct 2015)

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Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Country: Fiji, Lao People's Democratic Republic (the), Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

According to the Government, over 2.3 million people are affected by prolonged drought across PNG.
Immediate needs are food and water. The Government is leading the response and has completed the first round of relief distribution to the most affected provinces in the Highlands.

To strengthen coordination, the Government has asked that humanitarian partners provide information on their response operations through a systematic tracking form. The Government has established a National WATSAN Committee and released a form to systematically track potential health outbreaks. Key concern remains the capacity of Provincial Disaster Management Centres to register vulnerable people, as well as to collect and distribute relief supplies.

VANUATU

Below normal rainfall has been registered since July, and drought conditions are expected intensify between October and December. This water shortage further impacts crops struggling to grow after being damaged by Tropical Cyclone Pam. As a consequence of food and water shortages, malnutrition and related diseases are starting to appear.

Rapid assessments are now underway in drought and cyclone affected provinces of Vanuatu to determine the scale of water and food shortages associated with El Niño. Emergency food distributions are underway targeting approximately 18,000 households (approx. 90,000 people), as well as schools and health facilities.

FIJI

An official drought warning is in place and 67,000 people are already being assisted with water deliveries (approx. 13% of the total population) to cover the increasing needs of people, agriculture and livestock. A total of 54 schools (12,000 students) have received emergency water supplies. Sugar cane farmers are reporting crop reductions of around 25%. In addition, agriculatural production is down, pushing local produce prices up.

LAO PDR

On 9 Oct, the Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF launched a joint press release on a case of type 1 vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV1) in an 8-year old Hmong child Bolikhamxay Province. The boy was admitted to the Provincial Hospital on 10 Sep and died on 11 Sep. The case was laboratory-confirmed by the National Institute of Infectious Disease, Japan. The Ministry of Health is concerned about this case and activated the Emergency Operations Centre and Hotline 166 to closely monitor the possible circulation of virus.


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