Annual report

Strategic Priorities
| Disasters and crises 
107

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HEALTH AND 
WELLBEING
Context
Throughout 2022, the IFRC network actively 
helped communities to not only recover from 
the COVID-19 pandemic, but to build their resil-
ience and prepare for future disease outbreaks. 
However, pandemic-related disruption and 
strain on healthcare systems continued to have 
a knock-on effect on the prevention, treatment, 
and control of other diseases in 2022. 
The most vulnerable sections of society were 
hit the hardest. Routine immunization services 
were disrupted, resulting in the largest sustained 
decline in childhood vaccine coverage in a gen-
eration. In 2021, 25 million children missed one 
or more doses of life-saving vaccines, of those, 
18 million children did not receive even one vac-
cine, also referred to as ‘zero-dose’ children. The 
majority of zero-dose children live in the most 
marginalized communities. Approximately 78% 
of all zero-dose children live in only 20 countries. 
Building resilient immunization programmes 
to recover and prevent any future declines is 
a priority.
Services were also put under strain by a rapidly 
ageing global population and a lack of equitable 
and safe access to health, water, sanitation, and 
adequate living conditions. 
Mental health and psychosocial support needs 
increased manyfold, and related services contin-
ued to be in demand in countries that routinely 
experience disasters and crises, while incidences 
of sexual and gender-based violence had a sig-
nificant impact on mental wellbeing.
In 2022, countries on the African continent expe-
rienced frequent epidemic outbreaks including 
cholera outbreaks in Niger, Nigeria and Malawi, 
polio outbreaks across the Africa Region, and 
measles in Liberia and Zimbabwe. There were 
also occurrences of vaccine-preventable dis-
eases, and spillover of zoonotic diseases. The risk 
of the emergence – or reemergence – of zoonotic 
diseases with epidemic potential continued to be 
driven by habitat destruction, climate change, 
and the increasing interface between human 
and animal populations.
In the Americas, the Caribbean experienced 
increasing regional food needs and nutrition 
security concerns. In Venezuela, despite the 
availability of food and other items in the country, 
high prices placed these necessities out of the 
reach of the most vulnerable families. The health 
situation in Haiti remained of great concern, par-
ticularly risks of malnourishment.