Provision of Life saving primary healthcare and MHPSS service for IDPs in Tigray and Amhara, regions (Health and MHPSS) IOM proposes to continue to deliver quality lifesaving primary healthcare services, including mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS), by deploying four mobile health and nutrition teams (MHNTs) to IDP return sites that have limited to no healthcare service access. Prioritization of the Woredas was done focusing on areas hosting large numbers of IDPs with no healthcare services and prone to disease outbreaks due to poor living conditions. Limited access to health services is attributed to collapsed health care system and continuing insecurity which limits movements to facilities. In addition, health facilities which are accessible in these areas, are observed to be non-functional due to understaffing and/or damaged infrastructure during the conflict period. The proposed project aims to contribute to the improvement of health conditions for crisis-affected populations in Ethiopia through the delivery of essential health services and effectively respond to outbreaks in Northern Ethiopia (Tigray, Amhara regions) for a period of 6 months. The implementation will involve direct IOM implementation as well as system strengthening/capacity building to the health bureaus to adequately respond to public health emergencies and outbreaks. 

The proposed intervention will be implemented in Mekelle, Shire, Adwa of Tigray Regions and Dabaat, Kebero Meda of Amhara regions. The health teams will provide primary health care including MHPSS services to IDP returnees and host communities, with all individuals with specific needs within the project catchment areas benefiting equally. The health teams will be based at static health facilities within the IDP sites and in understaffed health posts close to IDP sites. The teams will conduct outreach services in hard-to-reach areas two days a week. The services provided by the health teams will comprise medical consultations, under five screening for malnutrition and referral, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services to women of reproductive age including family planning and antenatal care (ANC), health education and promotion including gender-based violence (GBV) awareness creation and mitigation measures, early warning and disease surveillance, as well as MHPSS. Capacity strengthening training for health providers will also be delivered. MHPSS intervention will focus on providing capacity building training on WHO’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme (MHGAP) to frontline health workers and provide supportive supervision. The training will aim to ensure that minimum standards as established by the IASC guidelines for MHPSS interventions in emergency settings are followed. In addition, mental health awareness sessions will be organized during the global mental health celebration. Women and children and other vulnerable groups with disability and the elderly will be given priority in the services. The health teams will also support the respective Regional, Zonal and Woreda health bureaus in immunization campaign by availing staff whenever the need arises. 

In addition to the provision of primary healthcare services, the team will be responding to the currently ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Ethiopia has so far confirmed 260,802 COVID-19 cases with 10,726 and 6,982 cases being in Amhara and Tigray regions, respectively. The IDPs in the selected Woredas are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreak due to lack of information and living condition (collective sites or crowded housing). The intervention will intensify community sensitization with key preventive messaging, print and distribute IEC/BCC materials (RCCE), cascade case management/Infection prevention and control (IPC) capacity building trainings to active case finding and immediate referral of suspected cases to the designated quarantine facilities, support the zonal taskforce/Emergency Operations Center (EOC) with coordination of the COVID-19 response and support selected COVID-19 isolation units, including by providing basic equ