Highlights
• Ramadi City was liberated on 27 December 2015.
However, active fighting is still ongoing in many parts of the city.
• Since June 2015, approximately 15 000 families have been displaced from Ramadi and are residing in various internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and host communities across eastern Anbar and western Baghdad.
• 380 families (2300 individuals) have been displaced since 27 December and are residing in the newly established Al-Qasr camp, north of Al-Habbaniyah Tourist City IDP camp. Al-Qasr camp is already over capacity and a new camp location is being considered. Health facility assessments have been conducted in various secure cleared areas of the city but there remain many areas where assessments cannot be undertaken due to the fear of mines and booby traps.
• Comprehensive health services are being provided through the Department of Health and various health cluster partners, including WHO.
Health provision and needs
Before the current population displacement crisis resulting from the liberation of Ramadi, WHO was already providing health services to the previous Anbar displacement caseload and had prepared a health intervention response plan for health activities in Al-Habbaniyah Tourist City and Amriyat Al-Fallujah subdistrict to ensure an effective and timely health sector response was in place, aimed at reducing mortality and life-threatening morbidity through provision of the following health services (since early in 2015):
• Six furnished caravans provided to Amriyat Al-Fallujah health sector serving as health centres to IDP camps.
• Two caravans provided to Al-Habbaniyah primary health care centre (with a dentist chair) to be operated as dentistry and laboratory units. Al-Anbar’s Department of Health has assigned two dentists to work there, but due to the high caseload of internally displaced patients requiring dentistry services and the inability of existing staff to manage this patient overload, WHO, in collaboration with the Department, will provide support through financial incentives for two additional dentists to provide night shift services on an overtime basis.
• Seven mobile clinics provided (four to Amriyat Al-Fallujah health sector, one to Al-Khaldia health sector and two to Baghdad/Al-Karkh health sector) are operational. WHO is offering support to two of these clinics in Amriyat Al-Fallujah and Al-Khaldia, through incentives to the clinics’ staff and will provide support for all the other mobile clinics starting from February 2016. The aim is to provide health services for IDP families who have no access to the nearest health facility.
• From June to December 2015, a total of 3299 vaccinations were given over 21 days at Bzbiz Bridge crossing point to displaced children.
• Based on agreement with the Ministry of Health, WHO has also provided four additional mobile clinics to its partners working in Baghdad and Anbar governorates as part of the contingency plan for the anticipated wave of IDPs as a result of Ramadi liberation efforts. These clinics are currently stored in the Ministry of Health warehouse waiting for the completion of the plate number registration process before their distribution to appropriate partners according to the previously prepared work plan.