Highlights
On 28 June, the first batch of 4 million Aquatab tablets has arrived in Viet Nam through Ho Chi Minh City airport. NCERWASS and VIHEMA are collaborating closely for expedited customs clearance of the supplies and working on testing of Aquatab tablets locally to provide stronger evidence of the test results to put in Aquatab instruction leaflets before large-scale distribution.
Joint planning workshops were held in Da Nang and Can Tho between WASH and Nutrition sectors with 182 participants attending from ten provincial agencies and concerned Ministries including Red Cross, Department of Natural Disaster Control and Central Women Union. These are unique opportunities for different stakeholders to collaborate closely not only for these planning events but later also on the response.
520,000
/# of children affected out of
2,000,000
/# of people affected
600,000
/# hectares of crop damaged
1,750,000
/# people lost incomes
52 (18 most affected)
/# provinces affected out of
64
Government-One UN Joint Emergency Response Plan 2016* US$48.5 million
Funding gap: US$37.7 million
UNICEF funds received: US$4 million
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
The ongoing El Niño-induced drought and saline intrusion emergency has adversely impacted the lives of people in 52 out of 64 provinces. In the most affected 18 provinces, 2 million people including 520,000 children and 1 million women, are in need of humanitarian assistance. Of the total 2 million people affected, some 500,000 live in the drought-affected South Central and Central Highlands Regions, and 1.5 million live in the Mekong Delta, where water shortages have been exacerbated by the saltwater intrusion.
With recent rainfall, the situation in the Mekong Delta has improved although impact of saline intrusion is yet to change.
Reduced water use for washing, ablution, and hand-washing, have already resulted in increased incidence of diarrhoea, dysentery, hand, foot and mouth disease, and skin diseases.
The poor access to water has also had an impact on children’s health, exacerbating the prevalence of malnutrition.