CE-DAT - Centre for research on the epidemiology of disasters

Hot Spots

 Throughout the last twelve months, areas in the Horn of Africa (map), as well as the Kutupalong Makeshift Camp in Bangladesh have shown to be particularly vulnerable to acute malnutrition. Out of the 60 CE-DAT surveys from November 2008 to July 2009, 16 reported GAM over 15% and 6 reported MCV coverage less than 50%.

Darfur Research

Estimating excess mortality has been and will remain a very complex exercise for many researchers. Recent conflicts such as those in the DRC, Darfur and Iraq have facilitated substantive debate on the accuracy of death tolls due to civil conflict. Given the variety of data sources, methodologies and time span covered, a common estimated death tool is difficult to establish amongst actors.

Mortality in Somalia

Conditions throughout the southern and central regions of Somalia have deteriorated greatly since the eruption of hostilities there in 2006 and about 1.1 million have been internally displaced. The Food Security Analysis Unit of Somalia (FSAU), a field research unit that closely monitors Somali livelihood, projects that 3.25 million are in dire need of the most basic, emergency food aid. This is a 77% increase since early 2008.

Anaemia in Complex Emergencies

Anaemia can easily develop during an emergency or worsen if it is already present. This happens because livelihoods and food crops are lost; food supplies are interrupted; diarrhoeal diseases break out, resulting in malabsorption and nutrient losses; and infectious diseases suppress the appetite whilst increasing the need for iron or other micronutrients to help fight illness. In these situations, it is critical that general food-aid rations are adequate and well balanced to meet iron or other nutrient needs, and that they are distributed regularly and in sufficient quantities.

2008: Overview

January is typically the month of statistical overviews. Analysts rush through their databases to come up with summary tables and analyses showing clear improvements, deteriorations or no change at all. So did we. We present here some preliminary findings for some places in Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda based on the comparison of 2006/2007 health data with the 2008 data.

GIS at CRED

Aware of the strong research potential and the high added value Geographic Information System (GIS), CRED decided jump on the bandwagon and make a first step towards the integration of the EM-DAT and CE-DAT databases into a GIS.

Completeness checklist

A completeness checklist was  developed in order to identify the methodological elements required for a survey to be considered valid and publicly available in the CE-DAT database.

Documenting mortality in conflict

CRED, in collaboration with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), organized an innovative,
inter-disciplinary symposium on the different techniques and applications for the estimation of mortality due to armed conflicts.

 Health situation in North Kivu

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) presents one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent years. This issue summarizes the recent health trends in North Kivu. Civilians are experiencing massive displacement and violence is preventing humanitarian access. More than a million persons are displaced in DRC, with two thirds in North Kivu. Since August, an additional 100,000 have been displaced in North Kivu, adding to the 500,000 already displaced between 2006 and 2008.

2007: Year in review

We are celebrating a milestone as CE-DAT soared past its 2000th survey mark. Over the last five busy years, CE-DAT has compiled one of the most comprehensive sources of acute malnutrition and mortality survey data since 2000 For the year 2007, CE-DAT has obtained 255 anthropometric surveys accounting for 3224 data points, consisting in 2277 nutrition, 565 mortality, and 382 vaccination coverage indicator points. These surveys came primarily from 19 different non-governmental organizations and 4 inter-governmental organizations.

CE-DAT news

- improved CE-DAT research tools
- explanation of the new CE-DAT database interface and website
- refugee data trends
- summary of the CE-DAT Technical Advisory Group meeting
- announcements of important meetings (Expert Group), conferences (Conflict Data), and courses (APHES)

Complex Emergency Monitor

The Complex Emergency Monitor is a new trademark feature of CE-DAT Scene. It is a diagnostic tool using mortality data to illustrate the nature and severity of complex emergencies being reported from the field.

DRC: Eye of the storm

Despite various ceasefires, the formation of a unity transitional government, and the success of national elections, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains at war. This issue provides a brief overview epidemiological situation in the DR Congo, looking at crude mortality since January 2003.

Somalia

Since 1991, when the last nationally recognized President Siad Barre was ousted, the Somali population has been living without a central functioning government providing any health service. Since then, civil strife and natural disasters have not spared any of the Somali regions. Severe food shortage in the near future will further aggravate the vulnerability of the population due to the conflict. While Somaliland presents an acceptable nutritional situation, the rest of Somalia presents serious to critical level of malnutrition.

2006: Global Overview

A global overview- 248 surveys have been entered in CE-DAT in 2006 which cover 19 complex emergencies in the world. When considering Crude Mortality Rate, Under Five Mortality Rate and Global Acute Malnutrition, we can get a brief overview of the global humanitarian situation.
- 121 locations recorded populations with critical malnutrition, 27 with wasting present for 1 in 4 children.
- Sinkat zone in Sudan recorded the highest GAM; wasting occurring in 30.8% of children between 6-59 months. Residents were worse off than those in IDP or refugee camps.

Afghanistan

At any one time multiple complex emergencies are ongoing across the globe. Most of these hotspots need and indeed are receiving humanitarian attention, but to varying degrees. And as attention strays, the humanitarian community is faced with the difficult task of prioritizing interventions for countries/conflicts that are seriously lacking evidence from the field. Afghanistan, an indisputably critical conflict hotspot, is at risk of becoming another “forgotten emergency”.