Highlights
The number of suspected and confirmed cases of Yellow Fever continues to decline with only sporadic cases being reported. A new phase of the vaccination campaign started on 15 August and continues in 22 districts in 13 provinces. As of 22 August, 1,930,252 people above 6 months of age have been vaccinated in the 22 districts.
A total of 891 laboratory confirmed cases have been reported out of 3,984 suspected cases and 3,460 laboratory samples tested. Laboratory confirmed cases have been reported in 16 out of 18 provinces.
UNICEF reached over 440,000 people during the reporting period with Social Mobilization messages on Yellow Fever.
8,400 people have been provided access to safe water through the rehabilitation of water pumps.
In total, 9,907 children under five with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have been benefited from therapeutic treatment programs assisted by UNICEF.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Angola is prone to cyclical effects of climatic change which have resulted in recent months in severe drought affecting a total of 7 provinces (Cunene, Huila, Namibe, Benguela, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza Sul and Huambo). Most affected are the three border provinces of Cunene, Namibe and Huila where UNICEF is focusing its emergency interventions. This year the El Nino weather phenomenon has resulted in food production losses of nearly 90% and has left 800,000 people facing food insecurity. Undernutrition rates have doubled from 2.8% SAM cases in June 2015 to now between 5%-7%, while global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates currently range between 15%-21%.
Potable water access is concerning as people are using unclean water for consumption and cooking and are forced to share untreated stagnant water with animals, giving rise to the risk of diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases. Approximately 30% of existing boreholes in the most affected provinces are non-functional and absent of safe water. The drought is exacerbating migratory movements of whole communities, including crossborder movements, which raises child protection concerns - from sexual abuse of girls exposed while walking long distances to fetch water to child labour and reduced school attendance. The food security situation is expected to worsen from August to the end of the year due to meagre yields and possible floods with the La Nina effect.
In January the National IHR Focal Point of Angola notified WHO of a Yellow Fever outbreak. A total of 891 laboratory confirmed cases have been reported out of 3,984 suspected cases and 3,460 laboratory samples tested However, the number of suspected and confirmed cases continues to decline with only sporadic cases being reported. Yellow Fever has been laboratory confirmed in 16 out of 18 provinces in the country. Luanda province reported the majority of the confirmed cases 487 (55.5%), followed by Huambo 127 (14.5%) and Benguela 116 (13.2%).