Improve access to primary health and nutrition care services to conflict, drought and flood affected communities in Oromia through health system support and Mobile Health and Nutrition Team (MHNT) The IRC proposes to continue the implementation of lifesaving primary health care (PHC) and nutrition services through Mobile Health and Nutrition Team (MHNT) work and provision of support to the local health system in Dawe Sere and Lege Hidha of Bale zone and Doba of W. Hararghe zone of Oromia region in response to the continued emergency situation and needs. This will consist of providing technical support to health extension workers and health facility staffs in the areas of emergency primary health care and extending health and nutrition care services to Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and to areas with poor access to health care and nutrition services within the targeted woredas. The project will also strengthen the capacity of target woredas in the areas of outbreak preparedness and timely response.

 

The IRC will apply the following approaches under this grant:

1. Establishment of  MHNTs in each woreda and provide direct PHC and nutrition services to IDPs as well as host communities with poor access to PHC and nutrition services. The IRC team will work closely with the woreda health office, and government health care providers.  

2. Provide public health facilities (HFs) in target areas through ongoing mentoring, technical support and transport of medicines, vaccines and supplies from woreda health office/zonal health department/RHB to the HF, support for alerts investigation and reporting, logistic and staff for vaccination, and capacity building of existing HEWs.

Under mobile teams, the IRC will create access to emergency Primary Health Care (PHC) services (general acute illness for adults, child health serves (treatment of common childhood illnesses using IMNCI protocol, routine immunization, vitamin A supplementation, deworming), reproductive/maternal health (ANC, PNC, newborn care, Iron supplementation, provision of TT vaccine, identification of high risk mothers and referral, family planning and counselling for breast feeding), immunization, and hygiene and sanitation) and nutrition services (screening for under 5, pregnant and lactating women, infant and young child feeding (IYCF), treatment of SAM without medical complications and Targeted Supplementary Feeding Program for MAM cases if commodities received from WFP or linking MAM cases to partners working on TSFP in the woreda). Provision of referral services for those requiring referral is also a key element of the MHNT.

Under this project, the IRC will continue to support the woredas which are selected based on recent hot spot woreda prioritization, existence of IDPs and recommendation by the Oromia RHB. These include Dewe serere, and Laga hidha, and Doba woredas in Oromia region. The main pillars of the project are: providing life-saving Primary Health Care services in hard to reach areas and within IDPs settlements improve community-based surveillance and mobilization and improve leadership and coordination mechanisms at zonal and woreda levels.

The IRC is currently implementing emergency health and nutrition response through Mobile Health and Nutrition Teams (MHNTs) in 9 woredas of Oromia regional state (which include the woredas prosposed under theis application). The primary targets are IDPs that originated from Somali regional state during the aftermath of border conflict across Somali-Oromia borders which resulted in more than 1 million IDPs in 2017 (the total number of IDPs has increased to 2.8 million recently according to the UN including the IDPs in SNNPR). While the conflict has subsided in most parts of the Somali-Oromia boarders, it has not fully stopped. On 13th August, 2018, the BBC (and a number of other medias) reported that 37 people were killed and more than 40 people were wounded at a location called Mayu Muluke in Oromia, a woreda that boarders with Somali region. This shows that the return of IDPs to their original places is unlikely in short period of time.