With hundreds of
hospitals and heath facilities destroyed or damaged every year by
disasters, the United Nations is launching a global campaign to ensure
that millions of people are not left without the vital care they need
in the midst of an emergency.
Natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods can within
minutes wreak havoc on communities, destroying basic infrastructures
and services and dealing a cruel blow to local populations. Millions of
people are left without emergency care during and after disasters when
hospitals and health facilities fail to function.
To protect health facilities from such hazards, the UN International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) is launching the “Hospitals
Safe from Disasters” campaign tomorrow in Davos, Switzerland, along
with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank’s Global
Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery.
“The price we pay for the failure of hospitals when disasters happen is
too high. In comparison, the cost of making hospitals safe is tiny,”
says Salvano Briceño, Director of the ISDR secretariat. “The
most expensive hospital is the one that fails.”
Recent examples highlight the tremendous impact that disasters can have
on local health systems. On 5 August 2007, in just two minutes, the
Peruvian city of Pisco lost 97 per cent of its hospital beds to an 8.0
magnitude earthquake. In addition, the October 2005 earthquake that
struck Pakistan completely destroyed half of the heath facilities in
the affected areas, and the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami wiped
out 61 per cent of the health facilities in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
In addition to denying access to primary health care for those
affected, damage to facilities and health systems could disrupt
essential services such as routine immunization or maternal and child
health care for months after a tragedy.
Among the objectives of the new campaign is to reinforce the structural
resilience of health facilities, and to ensure that they continue to
function after a disaster has struck. It will also train health workers
on preparedness plans that will keep health systems operational in the
wake of disasters.
“With current knowledge and strong political commitment it is possible
to protect health facilities from disasters, even with the limited
resources available in developing countries,” says Dr. Ala Alwan,
Assistant Director-General for Heath Action in Crises at WHO.
The agency is providing technical support to countries to help them
mitigate the effects of disasters on existing and new health
facilities, which will help protect the health of the population in
areas affected by disaster.
The Hyogo Framework for Action – adopted by 168 countries in Kobe,
Japan, in January 2005 – called on Governments to do more to ensure
that new hospitals are built to remain functional in the midst of
disasters.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25393&Cr=disaster&Cr1
