Editorial
The New International Health Regulations: What They Mean for Disaster Managers

Response to outbreaks of communicable diseases is often undertaken with the collaboration of disaster preparedness and response programs in the ministries of health. Due to the threat of emerging diseases and the deliberate release of hazardous agents, the international health regulations have been revised. This edition's editorial addresses the implications of these revisions for national health disaster programs. (More)

World Campaign for Safe Hospitals Launched

“Hospitals Safe from Disasters—Reduce Risk, Protect Health Facilities, Save Lives,” is the theme of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2008-2009. National and international partners will promote efforts to protect health facilities and ensure that they continue to function during and after a disaster. (More)

Regional Initiatives Promote Safe Hospitals

As part of its disaster preparedness action program, the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) is supporting PAHO/WHO in two projects—one in South America and one in the Caribbean—that promote the concept of hospitals safe from disasters as a way to reduce the health sector’s vulnerability to natural disasters. (More)

WHO Celebrates 60 Years

The World Health Organization (WHO) is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Starting in January, the WHO Executive Board will mark the anniversary with different activities, one of which includes the launch of the WHO60 photo exhibit “Our health, our future,” that shows some the agency’s milestones. (More)

Disaster Coordinators Define Work Agenda

Health disaster coordinators from the Ministries of Health of Central America met to prepare a shared work agenda that will be supported by PAHO/WHO in the next two years. They also agreed to coordinate actions more closely with SICA and CEPREDENAC, two Central American agencies. (More)

Spanish Cooperation Agency Opens
Logistics Center in Panama

In January, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) inaugurated a humanitarian logistics center in Panama to accelerate and improve their response to disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean. (More)

Australian University Trains Workers for Humanitarian Agencies

Australia’s Charles Darwin University is offering a new degree in Humanitarian and Community Studies, tailored to students interested in working in communities where resources are limited due to geographic or social conditions, or emergencies caused by disasters. (More)

Virtual Course on Risk Reduction

The U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, with support from other agencies, has created a course on disaster risk reduction and sustainable local development. It combines virtual and class sessions and is intended for a Spanish-speaking public in the Americas and the Caribbean. (More)

CRID Receives Award from the Elsevier Foundation

The Regional Disaster Information Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID) received a US$ 40,000 award from the Elsevier Foundation, a world renowned publisher in the area of medicine and health sciences. (More)

Peru Rebuilds Health Services Affected by the 2007 Earthquake

PAHO/WHO, with grants from Sweden and Spain, has been supporting Peruvian health authorities in the recovery of health services damaged during the August 2007 earthquake. (More)

Yellow Fever Outbreaks in the Americas

Yellow fever is a disease commonly found in the tropical regions of South America and Africa. However, urban yellow fever was eradicated from the Americas in 1942. Due to the recent possible discovery of urban yellow fever in Paraguay, and the increase of cases of jungle yellow fever in Brazil and Argentina, these countries have stepped up vaccination campaigns in high-risk areas. (More)

Jamaica’s Bellevue Hospital Undergoing Repairs

Jamaica’s Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital was seriously damaged by Hurricane Dean. Repair works were undertaken, with financial help from the European Union, and they are now almost complete. It is hoped that this retrofitting will help the hospital withstand the force of future hurricanes. (More)

Twenty-five Years Research and Training of Volcanoes and Earthquakes

The Geophysical Institute of the Polytechnic University of Ecuador is celebrating 25 years in the service of the country. The Institute is a national and international reference center for the study, monitoring, and research of volcanic and seismic hazards. (More)

Floods: History Repeats Itself in Bolivia

Since November 2007, heavy rains produced by the La Niña phenomenon have left nine Bolivian departments under water. Flooding in Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosí, Santa Cruz, and Tarija affected 73,776 families and caused 63 deaths. (More)

New Information Portal for Safe Hospitals

As a contribution to the United Nations/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction’s World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2008-2009, PAHO/WHO has launched a new website devoted to the theme “Hospitals Safe from Disasters.” WHO and PAHO are key technical partners on the Campaign, which aims to reduce the vulnerability of health facilities to disasters. (More)

Discrimination during Disasters- World Disaster Report 2007

Discrimination in disaster situations is the focus of the 2007 edition of the World Disaster Report, published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The publication examines which groups suffer the greatest discrimination, how this is manifested, and how vulnerabilities among these groups increase in disaster situations. (More)

New Guidelines on the Hazards of Volcanic Ashfall

The International Volcanic Health Hazard Network has published technical guidelines on the hazards of volcanic ash and gases. These include health and general preparedness recommendations to protect the general public from the effects of ashfall and volcanic gases. (More)

NLM Website Addresses Emergency Needs of Special Populations

The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) has launched a website for special populations that addresses preparedness for emergencies and disasters. It also includes lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the attacks on the World Trade Center. (More)

CRID

Visit their redesigned website to find out more about Safe Hospitals, and to review a list of updated disaster terms. (More)