Supporting provision of healthcare services through procurement and prepositioning of essential medicine and medical supplies, including preparedness for the Cholera outbreak in northwest Syria. The project's ultimate goal is to maintain the provision of pre-existing primary and secondary health care services within COVID-19 and Cholera responses to vulnerable populations in northwest Syria by ensuring the availability of essential medicines and medical supplies.
Based on the rapid assessment of the existing gaps in supply stocks, WHO proposed a proposal to address potential stockout and secure the buffer for the next 2-4 months to ensure the continuation of health services in northwest Syria. In coordination with the Health Cluster, WHO proposed to include all sub-districts in Aleppo and Idlib governorates in this Project, emphasizing areas with high severity of health needs and potentially impacted by the Cholera outbreak. This proposal focuses on responding to the present gap in essential medicine and medical supplies in NWS by procuring, transhipping, and prepositioning, with further preparation for the distribution of essential medicine and medical supplies aimed to ensure that the health sector can provide life-saving assistance to people in need in the NWS.
The project will assist in the procurament and preposition of medical supplies and equipment for the continuum of delivery of primary and secondary healthcare services (a list of supplies is available in Annex 5 and the budget for this proposal). 
WHO will also procure medicines and supplies for cholera outbreak preparedness and response plan, which have been calculated based on a cholera risk scale that considers population density, WASH severity, and trends of diarrhea. They will be utilized in affected areas, which to date, at the highest risk of them are areas adjacent to NES, i.e., Jarablus, Al-Bab, and Al Dana. Once the expected outbreak extends from Damascus, controlled areas and NES to NWS-affected areas will be supplied according to needs, which may differ from an initial plan.
Given the uncertainties regarding the extension of the UN resolution for cross-border operations, which expires on 10th January 2023, the other services, such as routine polio vaccination, might also be at risk. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has not prioritized the NWS for Polio campaign as the focus is on outbreak response countries. Given the current situation in NWS, with Measles and cholera outbreaks, it will be essential to have a Polio campaign integrated with the upcoming national MR campaign that will take place in December 2022. Therefore, within the collaboration between WHO and UNICEF as IP under this Proposal, the last one will procure 49,000 polio vaccines to assist in the MR campaign, aiming to prevent any potential outbreak which will further burden the system. Hence, having those vaccines is critical. 
All supplies WHO aims to procure are available through the global and local markets and the WHO emergency Hub in Dubai. According to identified needs, WHO is planning to organize direct procurement of medical supplies from the Global Market, focusing on Essential Medicines for PHC and SHC kits, Anesthesia Medicines, and NCD kits from WHO Global Emergency Stock in Dubai, dialysis sessions, and cholera supplies and consumables and SAM kits to be distributed among health facilities in Idleb and Aleppo governates. Regarding COVID-19 response in northwestern Syria, WHO will procure 27,000 PCR kits, covering the need for 2 months of Lab operations and testing approximately 27,000 suspected COVID-19 cases. Such estimation is based on the current COVID-19 situation however, in case of a COVID surge, the number of test kits should be increased.