A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
Since December 2015, Angola has been experiencing its first Yellow Fever outbreak in more than 30 years. As of 11 April 2016, according to data collected by the Cruz Vermelha de Angola (CVA), there have been 1,409 cases of which 490 have been confirmed; and 198 deaths attributed to Yellow Fever. The Yellow Fever outbreak remains cantered in Luanda, the capital, where there have been 950 suspected cases, 344 of which are confirmed and 141 deaths; however cases have also been reported in the Cabinda, Cuanza Sul, Huambo, Huila and Uig provinces.
On 23 February 2016, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) released CHF 50,672 from the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the CVA response to control the Yellow Fever outbreak, targeting 90,000 people in the Viana province with community mobilization (and post) related to vaccination support over a period of three months. Following the release of the DREF allocation, there the CVA has supported a Ministry of Health (MoH) organized vaccination campaign in collaboration with the Angola Armed Forces (FAA) and other stakeholders (United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO)) – this has included community mobilization (including distribution of information, education and information (IEC) materials), vaccinations and vector control in the most affected areas, as well as participation in coordination meetings with stakeholders. Please refer to the “Operational Framework” section for additional information.
Despite the efforts that have been made by the MoH and partners, including the CVA, the number of cases that are being reported have continued to increase and the situation remains concerning. As such, there is a need to consider the expansion of the activities planned through the DREF operation. This Operations Update requests an extension of Emergency Plan of Action operation update Angola: Epidemic (Yellow Fever) timeframe of one month (new end date: 23 June 2016); and an additional allocation of CHF 9,790 (total allocation: CHF 60,642) to enable the deployment of a Regional Disaster Response Team (RDRT) member for an initial one month. It is intended that the RDRT will support the CVA with a revision of the DREF operation, including a review of the implementation to date, and relevance/appropriateness of the remaining activities planned. It is possible that another additional allocation will be requested (or the launch of an Emergency Appeal considered) if it is identified that an expansion of the activities planned is required.
The major donors and partners of the DREF include the Red Cross Societies and governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the USA, as well as DG ECHO, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) the Medtronic and Zurich Foundations and other corporate and private donors. The IFRC, on behalf of the Cruz Vermelha de Angola would like to extend many thanks to all partners for their generous contributions.