Emergency health unit

When 16-year-old Lily’s house was flooded in the early hours of the morning, she fled with her family to a nearby school, which was converted into an evacuation centre. Many of the family’s possessions were washed away and the walls of one of their buildings were knocked down. Many crops and seeds were lost from the family farm, making it difficult for the family to find food in the flood’s aftermath.While she was at the evacuation centre, Lily joined Save the Children’s Child Friendly Space and received training in handwashing and water treatment from the Emergency Health Unit. Lily is passionate about teaching her sister and other children in her community how to wash their hands to prevent infectious disease such as cholera.

In July 2025, a diphtheria outbreak swept through Puntland, claiming 27 lives and infecting 482 people. Save the Children and the Puntland Ministry of Health, with funding from Gavi, launched a rapid emergency response deploying 35 mobile vaccination teams across four hotspot districts. The intervention reached over 48,000 individuals, immunising more than 40,000 children and successfully containing the outbreak. This is the story of the health workers, parents, and communities who came together to protect their children from a deadly but preventable disease.

The humanitarian crisis in Northern Mozambique is escalating due to spreading violence, massive displacement (around 120,000 people, including 55,000 children newly displaced), and a severe funding collapse. The crisis is one of the world's most underfunded emergencies, with only US $73 million received against a required US $352 million. Humanitarian organizations call upon the international community, donors, and governments for urgent action, increased funding, and renewed commitment to address the rapidly growing needs.

Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit, now WHO-verified, delivers lifesaving maternal and newborn care in disasters worldwide. From Gaza to Mozambique, our teams provide urgent medical support, build sustainable healthcare systems, and ensure no mother or baby is left behind.

More than 1 million children and their families will be targeted in a major Mpox prevention campaign in Sierra Leone launched by Save the Children after the West African country recorded its first cases of the potentially deadly virus.