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Area on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster ReliefReducing Vulnerability to Disasters:
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Disasters
are, first and foremost, a social and health issue. In the last decade,
more than 24 million persons in Latin America and the Caribbean have
lost their lives, loved ones, homes, workplaces and possessions to
natural or manmade disasters. Disasters have damaged or destroyed
hospitals and health facilities, leaving many without access to health
services. The direct cost of these losses has been estimated at US$3.12
billion. 
Preparing
the health sector to face disasters is a permanent and ongoing responsibility.
Disaster preparedness efforts enhance the capacity of the health sector
to respond to all types of disasters, create awareness of the associated
public health risks and improve the knowledge and skills of all health
actors. Technical areas of work include information dissemination
and management, hospital disaster preparedness, mass casualty management,
evaluation of damage and needs, and humanitarian supply management.
PAHO/WHO
encourages the Ministries of Health to promote a national culture
of disaster prevention. Its own technical contribution focuses on
the safety of health facilities. As an example, countries are urged
to use existing knowledge and tools to build new
hospitals with a level of protection that helps ensure they remain
operational in disaster situations. They are also encouraged to examine
the vulnerability of existing health facilities and
incorporate appropriate disaster mitigation measures. PAHO/WHO applies
this same strategic approach to risk reduction in water and sewerage
systems to safeguard this critical infrastructure.
At
any given time, there is an enormous number and variety of urgent
public health problems requiring the attention of governments and
organizations of all types. And from a technical standpoint, the solution
to many of these disaster risk reduction problems already exists and
is within reach, even in the case of low-income countries. PAHO/WHO’s
principal challenge, then, is to persuade decision-makers of the need
to invest in risk reduction initiatives now, prior to a disaster,
so that the know-how is in place for saving the maximum number of
lives possible during the event itself and reducing the risks to which
the population will be exposed in the days and months following. In
a word, there is no substitute for demonstrating political willpower
and commitment and developing a solid, effective disaster preparedness
capacity appropriate to local circumstances.  |
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Training and
Capacity Building
Effective
disaster management relies more on solid human resources than on equipment
and technology. The frequent turnover of staff at the country level
demands ongoing training and education efforts to maintain the required
level of awareness, skills and commitment to risk reduction. PAHO/WHO
actively supports a variety of training opportunities, including those
aimed at senior disaster experts to enhance management skills and
to improve knowledge and capacity in new areas such as planning, assessment
of health needs, preparedness for chemical accidents, risk reduction
for health services and more.
Partnerships
to Safeguard Health
When
disaster strikes, protecting the health of all people is a collective
responsibility. PAHO/WHO supports the Ministries of Health and is
committed to achieving and maintaining their leadership role in the
formulation of disaster management and risk reduction policies. PAHO/WHO
also promotes inter-country collaboration and mutual assistance agreements
and establishes memoranda of understanding with a wide variety of
international and regional agencies.
One example of these collaborative agreements is the support provided
to the Logistics Support System, a joint venture of WHO, WFP, OCHA,
UNICEF, UNHCR and PAHO to promote a transparent and coordinated approach
to humanitarian supply management.
Who We Serve
The
Pan American Health Organization has 35 Member Governments in the
Western Hemisphere. It also serves as the Regional Office for the
Americas of the World Health Organization. To improve the health and
wellbeing of the entire population of the Americas, PAHO/WHO works
through the Ministries of Health, and in the area of disaster reduction,
with the health sector disaster programs in these Ministries. The
health sector encompasses a broad group of actors including social
security systems, the Red Cross, private medical services, NGOs and
others, who are also included in technical cooperation activities.
Contact Us
Pan American Health Organization
Area on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief
| HEADQUARTERS 525 Twenty-third Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037, USA Tel: (202) 974-3434 Fax: (202) 775-4578 www.paho.org/disasters disaster@paho.org |
CENTRAL
AMERICA PAHO Subregional Disaster Office in Panama Casa 843 A y B Ave. Arnoldo Cano Arosemena Ciudad del Saber Corregimiento de Ancón, Panamá Tel: (507) 317-0971; 317-1124; 317-1120 Fax: (507) 317-0600 santanda@paho.org |
| THE
CARIBBEAN PAHO Subregional Disaster Office in Barbados P. O. Box 508 Bridgetown, Barbados Tel: (246) 436-6448 Fax: (246) 436-6447 disaster@cpc.paho.org |
SOUTH
AMERICA PAHO Subregional Disaster Office in Ecuador Apartado Postal 17-07-8982 Quito, Ecuador Tel: (593-2) 2460-277; 2460-274 Fax: (593-2) 2256-174 cgarzon@ecu.ops-oms.org pedecu@ecu.ops-oms.org |