Health Sector Coordination Meeting

HEALTH SECTOR COORDINATION MEETING
September 26th, 2001

WHO Humanitarian Assistance Office Skopje

Participants:

Boris Rebac WHO HAO
Dance Gudeva Nikovska WHO HAO
Eric Donelli WHO
Vasiliki Delimitsou UNICEF
Ioannis Diangelakis EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
Dejan Krstic American Refugee Committee INT
Daniela Ralis IRC
Nermin Zitkovic IRC
Kevser Loki IRC
Maja Suslevska Save the Children UK
Judi Harris American Red Cross
Andrea Anderson ART International
Biljana Simjanoska Handicap International
Gvozden Stojkoski AAR Japan

Dr. Rebac - WHO HAO opened the meeting by introducing Dr. Eric Donelli, consultant from WHO Headquarters.

Dr. Donelli arrive in FYROM in order to assist in designing, preparation and implementation of the planned Rapid health assessment in the health sector. He will stay three weeks in FYRoM. One-day preparative workshop for the health assessment in the affected areas of Skopje, Kumanovo and Tetovo will be held on October 03, 2001 at the Ministry of Health. Selected people from the Medical centers, Health centers and Institutes of Public health from the three respected regions are invited to participate, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and international organisations and NGOs working in health sector. The objective of the workshop is to prepare standardised questionnaires adjusted to the present situation in the country that will serve as a tool for field assessment. Questionnaires will be designed according to WHO Guidelines for RHA. Also, at the workshop, the teams with interviewers will be selected to go in the field.

The aim of the RHA is to collect basic information on health capacity and needs in the Health centers and Ambulantas of the three areas of Skopje, Kumanovo and Tetovo affected by conflict. It will provide Ministry of Health, WHO, UN and NGOs with basic information, help to define health priority interventions and provide baseline indicators to monitor interventions.

Dr Rebac added that WHO was invited yesterday on a meeting in the Government with the vice president Mr. Ilija Filipovski. Today there will be also meeting in the Government, with representatives of Ministry of Health, UNICEF, UNHCR and ICRC.

WHO has received the second shipment of drugs and will organise second round of distribution. This time Tetovo region will be included, using same procedures for monitoring and distribution. For conflict areas, most probably WHO will ask ICRC to assist.
An update on PHC services for IDPs in Kumanovo region will be given later by IRC representative.

American Red Cross is running regular programs - Health education for IDPs in collective centers and hosted in families in the region of Skopje and Kumanovo. They have covered 1000 IDPs during September, mostly in host families. In their educational material they also incorporate mine/UXO awareness materials prepared by ICRC. ARC is planning to spread its activities in collective centers in Dojran and Gevgelija.

European Perspective - no activities.

UNICEF is running regular activities. Concerning emergency, UNICEF has sent one Emergency kit last week to the Medical Center Kumanovo. Health education programs in Kumanovo are ongoing. UNICEF is expecting second shipment of drugs to arrive within next week.

IRC is running regular programs for refugees and IDPs. Primary health care service for IDPs in Kumanovo gave medical help to more than 80 patients/day last week. There is increased number of refugees coming back from Kosovo, but they still cannot go to their homes and have to be taken into account as an IDPs. The problem is that Macedonian Red Cross stopped the registration, and they cannot be registered and uses medical services as IDPs.

Dr Rebac suggested talking to Macedonian Red Cross and exploring possibilities how to registrate those people.

There is still lack of some medicines in Kumanovo, especially antibiotics for children. The most common pathology in children is gastric-intestinal and respiratory problems. IRC in cooperation with Macedonian Red Cross distributed beds and baby packages to babies 0-12 months as well as some medications.

Concerning Aracinovo, primary health care service is functioning well, with average 30 patients a day. There is also a problem with medications for this service. Also, problems with the electricity and heating are still existing and this has to be solved as soon as possible due to the forthcoming winter season.

UNICEF informed that they have contacted the mayor and agreed to solve disposal problems and help with the cleaning of the building.

Dr Rebac informed that WHO would approach Aracinovo again and talk to the mayor, as UNICEF offered to provide generator and water tanks.

American Refugee Committee Int. - has health and psychosocial activities for refugees and IDPs in Skopje and Kumanovo.

Save the Children UK continues with distribution of hygiene kits for IDPs in collective centers. They started additional distribution of shampoo for scabies in collective centers. Local NGO from Kumanovo reported that hygiene packages were requested for the villages in Lipkovo municipality.

Handicap International is in phase 2 of preparation of the new project to support IDPs with special needs. The project will be funded by UNHCR. Also they receive lot of requests from NGOs for hygiene kits, especially for children.

ART International is involved jointly with American Red Cross in finding homes for families in Suto Orizari that live without shelter. Fourteen-year-old girl has to be transferred to special pediatric psychiatry clinic in Munich. ART is waiting for free tickets provided by Austrian Airlines, so this girl most probably will travel in the next couple of weeks.

AAR Japan has regular activities in Kumanovo and Skopje. Their teams gave medical help to 403 patients this week. Tomorrow they plan to travel to Stip, to give medical help to Roma population. Also, it is planned to go to Tetovo on Friday and to restart the services, depending on security situation.

Mrs. Flora Ljatifi representative of the Cabinet of the President informed the participants that she has attended the meeting at the Government and Ministry of Labor will solve the problem with registration of refugees coming from Kosovo.

IRC health team supported by UNHCR gives medical help to refugees and social cases in Suto Orizari and Katlanovo collective centers. Their teams reported increased number of cases with watery diarrhea both in the collective centers and in community. IRC teams have enough medications. Other common problems are upper respiratory tract infections.
Local ambulanta in Suto Orizari finished immunisation campaign. One child (Roma refugee) died after receiving the vaccine. IRC is expecting official forensic results on Friday.

Next meeting is scheduled for October 03, 2001 16:00 p.m. at WHO HAO premises.


Previous reports

• 12 September 2001
• 5 September 2001
• 29 August 2001
• 22 August 2001