Nicaraguan Towns Draft Plans

A Nicaraguan mother cooks in an improvised kitchen after losing her home to Hurricane Mitch. ©PAHO Nicaragua

Nicaragua has become the first country in Central America to have locally developed emergency-response plans for every municipality in the country. As a result of a three-year effort spearheaded by PAHO's Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief program and Nicaragua's Ministry of Health, 153 municipalities in the country's 17 departments have drafted response plans for a variety of potential health emergencies, based on local needs and conditions.

Minister of Health José Antonio Alvarado personally received the municipal plans at a special Nov. 5 ceremony in Managua. Participants noted that the challenge now is to make the process sustainable, by further disseminating the methodology used, offering ongoing training programs, keeping current plans up-to-date, carrying out emergency drills and practices, and strengthening cooperation between partners including the Nicaraguan Red Cross and Christian Medical Action, among others.

PAHO emergency preparedness experts are developing a guide based on their experiences in Nicaragua that will help other countries develop local emergency response plans. A draft of the guide has been presented at a series of validation workshops in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panamá, Colombia, Ecuador and Cuba.