IERHB

Complex Humanitarian Emergency Team (CHET)

The Complex Humanitarian Emergency Team (CHET) mission is to reduce morbidity and mortality in and improve the health of populations affected by complex humanitarian and other international emergencies.

CHET includes medical epidemiologists, health scientists, public health educators, Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officers, and other public health professionals.

Focus Areas

Nutrition
Vaccine-preventable diseases
Mental health in conflict-affected populations and aid workers
Malaria
Reproductive Health
Water and Sanitation
Communicable Diseases
HIV/AIDS
Health Information Systems

CDC works in about 40 countries around the world to improve the health of populations affected by complex humanitarian emergencies such as war, famine, civil strife, disaster, genocide, drought and displacement.

More Information

CHET related publications
War-related Injury Team (WIT)

Notes from the Field

Darfur, Sudan: Every year since 2004, we help conduct a comprehensive nutrition survey of Darfur’s children and their mothers. The survey shows the prevalence of malnutrition which is useful for planning food aid and obtaining financial support for humanitarian efforts. The survey is conducted with UNICEF, local nongovernmental organizations, the World Food Program, and the Sudanese government.

CDC trained volunteers from the UN and UNICEF and NGOs to do the on-the-ground surveillance ensuring a level of local expertise in field epidemiology. "For me that's been one of the big successes – trying to build capacity for these organizations in Sudan” says Liesel Talley, our lead epidemiologist for the Darfur Project. Despite the challenges of working in Darfur, we have helped to build local capacity which will prove to be an important part of the recovery process when Darfur begins to emerge from this humanitarian crisis.

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