Skip directly to: content | left navigation | search
  1. NCEH ›
  2. IERHB ›
  3. Countries ›
  4. Southwest Asia

Southwest Asia

    Afghanistan
    The International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch (IERHB) has led CDC's response to the war in Afghanistan. The branch's response to this crisis has been one of the largest in the branch's history. IERHB staff were the first U.S. government employees in Afghanistan besides the U.S. State Department and the U.S. military. IERHB helped to conduct the national measles immunization campaign, which took place during 2002 and 2003. IERHB staff conducted multiple surveys in response to requests from the United Nations including regional nutritional assessments, and a national injury disability mortality and mental health survey. In addition to these activities IERHB staff acted as the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) health coordinators for internally displaced people in Afghanistan. In 2003, IERHB will establish the Post Emergency Public Health Center in Afghanistan (PEPHCA). This center, a collaborative project between CDC, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the Afghan ministry of health, will be a center of excellence for public health, epidemiology, and survey methods in Afghanistan.

    Azerbaijan
    In previous years, the International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch (IERHB) staff have contributed to health and nutrition surveys in this former Soviet republic.

    Iraq
    As the world faces a potential war in Iraq, the International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch (IERHB) is working with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, the U.S. State Department, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in planning responses to a potential humanitarian crisis.

    Jordon
    In 2003, the International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch (IERHB) will work with CDC's Epidemiology Program Office to conduct a national epidemiology training course in Jordan. As part of the CDC and Landmine Survivors Network’s (LSN) cooperative agreement, IERHB supports landmine survivor peer support activities in Jordan.

    Pakistan
    The International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch (IERHB) has a long history of work in the Afghan refugee camps along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. In coordination with the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), IERHB has been field testing a health information system, which will hopefully make the collection and analysis of health data more timely and effective in refugee settings. During the recent war in Afghanistan, IERHB provided health coordinators to UNHCR to direct health activities in the refugee camps and around Quetta Pakistan.