Achievements in responding to health emergencies

The value of World Health Organization can be judged by looking at its achievements and rewards. There
are some achievements of WHO in responding to health emergencies.

The 1st achievement of WHO was - Responding to Ebola outbreaks in AFRICA

After the Ebola outbreak, treatment centres were established which was supported by WHO and partners.
The arrival of a rapid genetic test for the Zaire strain of Ebola, the Xpert Ebola test was introduced. More
than 1000 experts were deployed by WHO and partners. WHO also supported the Democratic Republic of
the Congo in preventing the spread of Ebola virus disease to neighbouring countries by setting up exit
screening for travellers at international airports, seaports and major land crossings.

2nd achievement was the Yellow fever vaccination is 2017

WHO supported yellow fever endemic countries through eliminating Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE)
Strategy. Implementation of the global strategy which was jointly governed by WHO, UNICEF and GAVI,
ensured to support countries to respond to an increased risk of urban outbreaks of yellow fever with
international spread. The strategy aimed at protecting at-risk populations, preventing international spread
and containing outbreaks rapidly. The EYE strategy ensured reliable vaccine supply and to predict needs
and shape vaccine production. 30 million doses of yellow fever vaccine from WHO’s emergency vaccine
stockpile were deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

3rd achievement was the Nationwide immunization campaign which protected 5 million children under the
age of 5 against polio in Yemen.
The campaign was supported by a partnership between the World Bank, UNICEF and WHO launched in
February 2017 to keep Yemen polio-free and curb the spread of Mee zeels (measles). This partnership
provided continuous support to national health authorities to increase vaccination coverage across
Yemen. The support was provided by delivering fuel, generators and solar-powered refrigerators to keep
vaccines at a constant cool temperature.

Lastly,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand became the first countries in WHO South-East Asia Region to
achieve Hepatitis B control, with prevalence of the deadly disease dropping to less than one per cent
among five-year-old children. The Hepatitis B vaccines made this achievement possible.