Maintaining Essential Nutrition Services to Underfive Children in Yemen: A Programmatic Adaptation Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Ferima Coulibaly-Zerbo,Maison Al-Sakkaf,Doa Kutbi Omer,Nosheen Mohsan Usman,Moatsim Hael,Zita C Weise Prinzo,Mohammed Dahnan,Ensegam Mohammed Al-Sakkaf,Mohammed Shroh,Latifah Abbas Ali,Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh,Abdulrazzaq Musaed,Fanda Ahmed Moqbel,Shafekah Alahnoumy,Marina Adrianopoli,Eshrak Naji Mohammed Al-Falahi,Lara Nasreddine,Fahim Al-Hakimi

doi:10.3390/children8050350

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged that, as health services divert their attention to the COVID-19 pandemic, the delivery of essential nutrition services may be compromised. This impact may be more pronounced in the context of humanitarian crises, such as the one currently unfolding in Yemen. In line with Pillar 9 of the WHO’s COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, this paper reports on the nutrition program adaptations in Yemen to maintain the delivery of essential nutrition services to under-five children. The process of adaptation focused on the services provided within the nutrition surveillance system (NSS), therapeutic feeding centers (TFC), and isolation units (IU). It was conducted in five steps: (1) situation analysis; (2) development of guidance documents; (3) consultation process; (4) capacity-building programs; and (5) incorporation of programmatic adaptation within nutrition services. As of September 2020, NSS, TFC, and IUs services have shifted their standard operating procedures in line with the context-specific adaptations. The process described in this paper may serve as a case-study for other countries that intend to undertake similar adaptations in their nutrition program to contribute to the implementation of the WHO response plan and maintain the delivery of essential nutrition services to children.

Highlights

While drawing on the unique local context of Yemen, this paper aims to describe the process adopted for the nutrition programmatic adaptation, and delineate key considerations addressed within this adaptation as well as aspects related to its monitoring
Lack of standard operating procedures (SOPs), protocols and guidelines for infection protection and control (IPC), that are properly adapted to the context of Yemen, the latter being characterized by low resources, fragile health system, ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis
Plan [1] and in alignment with the updated World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on maintaining essential health services during the pandemic [3], this paper reports on the nutrition program adaptations in Yemen to maintain the delivery of essential nutrition services to under-five children (U5C)

Summary

Introduction

The year 2020 has witnessed the spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Leading to a profound universal crisis, with unprecedented reach and proportions. January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) described the COVID-19 outbreak “as a public health emergency of international concern under the International Health. Regulations” [1], and on 3 March 2020, the WHO announced COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic [2]. The WHO Director-General called for the activation of the United Nations (UN) crisis management policy and the establishment of a crisis management team to coordinate the UN’s system-wide scale up and assist countries in their preparedness and response plan [1]. It was recommended that national authorities develop and update their

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