2024

Summary

Every humanitarian crisis is a health crisis

In every humanitarian crisis, people are at risk of trauma, disease and death. Women, children, older people and people with pre-existing medical conditions are disproportionately affected by humanitarian emergencies. Rapid access to health-care services can mean the difference between life and death – enabling mothers to give birth safely, protecting children against infectious diseases, treating malnutrition and ensuring those with chronic diseases continue to receive vital treatment.

Failing to protect health in humanitarian emergencies not only puts lives at immediate risk, it also feeds a cycle of poverty, threatening progress on global targets for health, education, nutrition and livelihoods.

What we do

Impact in 2023

2024 Appeals

WHO / Guerchom Ndebo
Rebecca, 37, receives medicine for her one-year-old-child from a health worker at the transit health center, set up by WHO and partners to meet urgent health needs in Bulengo camp, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"With your support, we will save lives, meet critical health needs for the most vulnerable, and help communities emerge from crisis with a greater ability to tackle future health threats."

- Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization

What your support enables

We strive to prevent emergencies where possible, to improve preparedness and detection, and to provide a best-in-class rapid response deployment where necessary. When delivering emergency and humanitarian assistance, WHO remains committed to helping countries strengthen their resilience. Our holistic approach invests in robust surveillance, logistics, infrastructure, and health system strengthening, as well as improving the capacity of the existing health workforce to respond rapidly.

WHO provides life-saving care, such as delivering medical supplies and deploying emergency medical teams to treat traumatic injuries.

WHO teams deliver highly specialized care in health emergencies, targeting needs that are unmet or underserved.

WHO supports access to essential health care by procuring and distributing supplies, such as medicine and health equipment.

WHO plays a critical role in assessing risk plans and monitoring and sharing information, including tracking injuries, reporting on infectious disease outbreaks and documenting attacks on health care.

WHO is committed to working with local actors, tapping into specialist knowledge and skills to access hard-to-reach areas, using cost-effective local resources and increasing accountability to those we serve.

Our teams collaborate with affected communities, health-care professionals and local authorities to ensure access to care, deploying mobile clinics and innovative last-mile solutions.

WHO bolsters existing health systems, supporting the health teams who are already delivering and the systems which are already in place, often in dangerous situations.

By ensuring that humanitarian response includes strong health systems, we help countries to emerge from emergencies with greater resilience against future threats.

WHO coordinates emergency responses with all health partners, advocating for health and the protection of health workers and health facilities.

2024 funding requirements

Through the Health Emergency Appeal, WHO will provide support to over 41 ongoing health crises around the world, including 15 of the highest-level ‘Grade 3’ emergencies – those which require an urgent and major WHO response.