Other partner organizations actively involved in the Operation: National Risk Management System (SINAGER), Ministry of Health and Municipal Governments
Given the high incidence of the zika epidemic in the country, Honduran Red Cross (HRC) has been working with various donors to respond to the emergency. The National Society has coordinated actions with each donor following the guidelines established in the Honduran Red Cross' Plan of Action, which was done in this way in order to achieve a standardization of both the actions implemented and the content of communications campaigns and lecture material. This material is now ready for printing and distribution; however, since the project's end date is 20 days away, HRC believes that there will not be enough time to reach all families that were to be targeted through DREF, either directly or indirectly.
Ministry of Health guidelines established to respond to this emergency dictate that it must coordinate with all local sectors according to prioritized municipalities. The Ministry of Health has been late in assigning HRC the sectors where actions are to be implemented, especially in San Pedro Sula, which in turn has caused delays to DREF.
In light of the technical reasons previously expressed, the National Society is requesting that the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) grant a 30-day extension as of 26 May 2016. This request is based on an analysis conducted by the technical team which shows that this extension is necessary to develop and complete the activities within this project's plan of action, with quality and following a logical sequence. This will result in the achievement of the impact expected in DREF and the establishment of a suitable exit strategy for targeted municipalities.
A. Situation Analysis
A.1 Description of the disaster
Through Executive Decree PCM-008-2016, the Honduran Government declared a national health emergency on 2 February 2016 due to the high incidence of zika, dengue and chikungunya.
According to Ministry of Health nationwide statistics to date, the curve continues within the epidemic zone, with high transmission rates and on an upward trend since the last weeks in 2015. At the regional level, 17 of the 20 regions are considered to be in the epidemic zone: Atlántida, Colón, Comayagua, Copán, Cortés, San Pedro Sula, Choluteca, El Paraíso, Francisco Morazán, Tegucigalpa, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Santa Bárbara, Valle and Yoro; while the Bay Islands are in the alarm zone; Intibucá in the secure zone; and Gracias a Dios in the success zone.
Based on information provided by the Ministry of Health for Epidemiological Week 16 (17-23 April), there were 35,502 cases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti vector: 18,642 cases of zika, 8,882 cases of dengue and 7,978 cases of chikungunya.