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UNICEF Angola Intensifies Ongoing Life-Saving

Nutritional & Vaccination Interventions and Appeals for Funding

18 June 2002 - UNICEF Angola continues to intensify its operations to meet the urgent nutrition, vaccination and health needs of significant numbers of vulnerable children and women in newly accessible areas of Angola and in newly established Quartering & Family Areas (QFAs). These life-saving efforts include:

Assisting Newly Reachable Children & Women in Previously Inaccessible Areas

a. A focus on supplementary and therapeutic feeding is a critical intervention to help save the lives of malnourished children and mothers. UNICEF supports the treatment of moderate and severe cases of acute malnutrition in children and mothers through the delivery and administration of therapeutic milk, high-protein biscuits, essential drugs, measuring boards, scales and blankets at therapeutic and supplementary feeding centers all over Angola. This support has recently been provided to the Ministry of Health's Nutrition Rehabilitation Unit at the Huambo Provincial Hospital, and to therapeutic and supplementary feeding centers in 8 key provinces: Huambo, Malanje, Kuando Kubango, Lunda Sul, Uige, Luanda, Benguela and Huila. These feeding centers include 4 centers run by the Ministry of Health and other centers run by various NGOs including: Concern, Catholic Relief Services, the MSF-family, Action Against Hunger and CUAMM. From April to June, UNICEF also provided WFP with 60 MT of BP-5 high protein biscuits, thereby making up a balanced supplementary feeding ration which supported feeding centers throughout the country benefiting over 30,000 malnourished children.

b. the provision and administration of measles and polio vaccines, Vitamin A, syringes and cold chain equipment in support of emergency measles and polio vaccination campaigns. These include: emergency measles and Vitamin A campaigns currently ongoing and recently conducted in 16 newly accessible municipalities in 9 provinces: Huambo, Bengo, Bie, Huila, Kuando Kubango, Malanje, Moxico, Uige and Zaire; polio campaigns recently conducted in 17 newly accessible municipalities in 9 provinces: Bengo, Bie, Lunda Norte, Huambo, Huila, Malanje, Moxico, Uige and Zaire; from 21-23 June, 3.9 million Angolan children are being targeted through the nation-wide polio National Immunization Days in all provinces, including children in newly accessible areas and QFAs. UNICEF Angola is also providing DPT, Yellow Fever, TT vaccines, vaccination materials and cold chain equipment to reinforce routine vaccination in all of these areas. Since the signing of the cease-fire in April 2002, over 200,000 children have been vaccinated against measles and 2,375,696 children have been vaccinated against polio through emergency and sub-National Immunization Day campaigns.

Assisting Newly Reachable Children and Women in Quartering & Family Areas (QFAs)

To provide a minimum health package to children and women in QFAs, UNICEF is supporting:

a. ongoing and recently conducted measles immunization plus campaigns (measles & Vitamin A) in 21 QFAs in 12 provinces: Moxico, Huambo, Lunda Sul, Kuando Kubango, Bie, Uige, Huila, Kwanza Sul, Malanje, Bengo, Kwanza Norte and Cunene. Measles immunization plus campaigns are planned for the remaining 14 QFAs and will be completed by July, targeting 110,000 children;

b. Essential drugs kits to treat the top 3 leading causes of child mortality in Angola
(malaria, diarrhoeal disease and acute respiratory infections) are being distributed to 10 provinces with UNICEF support to all QFAs and will benefit 250,000 Angolans at the QFAs over the next few months. An additional 105 essential drugs kits are being distributed to QFAs through the Angolan Armed Forces; and,

c. Health personnel at all QFAs are also being re-trained in vaccination techniques and
the correct use of essential drugs.

d. UNICEF is also supporting supplementary feeding centers in QFAs in Benguela Province with plans ongoing to expand this support to QFAs in other provinces.

"By facilitating and supporting the work of the Government and our partners, UNICEF continues to intensify its efforts to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children and women", says Mario Ferrari, UNICEF Angola Representative. "Recent developments have provided us with access to large populations who have been cut off from humanitarian assistance for years and who are in urgent need of assistance in terms of nutrition and immunization interventions. UNICEF Angola also continues to address urgent needs in the areas of education, child protection, water & sanitation, HIV/AIDS and landmine awareness. To continue and to expand upon these interventions throughout the country, including the newly accessible and quartering & family areas, UNICEF Angola is urgently appealing for substantial additional funding from donors."

Urgent Funding Appeal for Nutritional & Vaccination Life-Saving Interventions:

Subject to the availability of funds from donors, UNICEF and its partners can continue its current assistance and launch further crucial life-saving humanitarian interventions to:

a. procure therapeutic milk for 15,000 severely malnourished children and to establish a network of 20 supplementary feeding centers throughout Angola to assist moderately malnourished children, pregnant women and lactating mothers; and,

b. immediately immunize an additional 300,000 children against measles, polio, BCG; and Yellow Fever and immediately immunize pregnant women and women of child-bearing age against Tetanus (TT).

Key UNICEF Angola partners in nutrition and vaccination interventions include: the Government of Angola; international and national NGOs including Concern, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children US & UK, the Medicins Sans Frontieres family, Africare, Goal, Action Against Hunger, CUAMM, amongst others; UN agencies; the Angolan Armed Forces; church groups; and, other civil society partners.

"Our efforts in life-saving nutrition and vaccination activities are focused on the most basic of children's rights", says Dr Oscar Castillo, UNICEF Angola, Chief Health Officer. "Their right to life and their right to good health and nutrition as enshrined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child."

Background - Nutritional Crisis:

About 70,000 children throughout Angola urgently need supplementary and therapeutic feeding for their very survival. Since the signing of a cease-fire on 4 April 2002, large displaced populations in vast, previously inaccessible areas of Angola can now be reached by the humanitarian community. They reveal an alarming nutritional situation in which children, pregnant women and lactating mothers are particularly vulnerable. Recent rapid assessments in previously inaccessible areas, notably in Huambo, Bie, Malanje and Huila provinces, reported an average global acute malnutrition rates of 30% and an average severe malnutrition rate of 10%. The number of therapeutic feeding centers has substantially increased from 20 in February 2002 to over 50 today to meet the increase in admission rates. Working together with its partners, UNICEF Angola is helping to save lives by supporting therapeutic and supplementary feeding centers throughout the country.

Background - Emergency Vaccination Campaigns:

Measles is the leading cause of vaccine preventable mortality in Angola and remains one of the leading killers of Angolan children - especially amongst malnourished children and displaced populations where measles outbreaks are most likely. Today, 1.4 million Angolans are displaced from their homes. While the measles fatality rate in developed countries is 1/1,000 cases, in Angola, the measles fatality rate is almost 100/1,000 cases. To prevent the unnecessary deaths of Angolan children, UNICEF continues to support its partners in conducting emergency measles campaigns in high-risk municipalities areas. UNICEF is also gearing up to launch a nation-wide measles campaign targeting 6.8 million Angolan children in the coming months.

Background - The Alarming Situation for Angolan Children:

During nearly 3 decades of civil war, Angola has faced an ongoing crisis for children for years: Angola has one of the highest under-5 child mortality rates in the world and it is estimated that 1 Angolan child dies every 3 minutes. A recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey has revealed that 45.2% of children suffer from stunting, illustrating the long-term negative effect of the conflict on the healthy growth of children. Immunization coverage for children remains low and amongst children aged 0-14 years of age, there are some 750,000 orphans of either one or both parents. The new political situation has revealed further catastrophic conditions for Angolan children and women in vast areas to which the humanitarian community has had no access for years due to conflict and insecurity. To help save more lives, these children need to continue to be assisted throughout Angola.

For more information about UNICEF Angola activities, please contact:

Kent Page or Jose Luis Mendonca in Luanda: 2442-331-010;

Madeline Eisner in Nairobi: 2542-622-214;

Wivina Belmonte in Geneva: 41-22-909-5509;

Margherita Amodeo in Abidjan: 225-2020-8101
Liza Barrie in New York: 1-212-326-7593