Editorial
The Risk of the Financial Crisis for Disaster Management

This first decade of the 21st century has been fraught with new threats and uncertainties, ranging from the so-called “war on terror,” to climate adaptation, to an impending influenza pandemic caused by the avian or swine viruses. Awareness has been raised amongst national disaster managers in the health sector and they have been trained to face an increasing variety of hazards, some still to materialize at national level. (More)

Interview

Dr. Salvano Briceño, Director of the Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) answers questions on progress achieved in the four years of implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, the challenges and the most important expectations towards making progress in disaster reduction worldwide. (More)

World Health Day 2009—Joining Forces to Have Hospitals Safe from Disasters

World Health Day is celebrated each April 7 to commemorate the foundation of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. The focus for 2009 was on the need to ensure that hospitals and health facilities are safe from disasters and other emergencies. (More)

National Disaster Response Teams in the Health Sector in Central America

One of the ways in which countries can strengthen their capacities to face disasters is to have national teams with qualifications, training and the necessary tools. In this context, Central America has begun the formation of a team of specialists in health issues which can be mobilized to support the national health structure, in the event of large-scale disaster situations. Despite the effectiveness of this initiative, it is clear that in sudden disasters or in disasters of a lesser scale, the mobilization of an international team is more difficult in the first case or difficult to justify in the second. (More)

DiMAG Sets a Work Agenda for the Coming Years

Five years have passed since the creation of the Disaster Mitigation Advisory Group (DiMAG) as a resource which provides advice to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and its members in a variety of themes related to disaster mitigation and risk reduction in the health sector. (More)

CRID Carries out New Activities in Central America to Improve Information Management Capacity

The Regional Disaster Information Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID) is implementing a project to develop and strengthen capacities in information management on disaster risk reduction that is financed principally by ECHO, the Department of Humanitarian Aid of the European Commission. (More)

First Session of the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas

One of the priorities defined in the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), “to considerably reduce losses brought about by disasters both in terms of lives as in social, economic and environmental assets,” is that of the use of National and Regional Platforms which act as a forum for the exchange of information and knowledge on effective actions for disaster risk reduction. In this context, the First Session of the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas was held in Panama in March, organized jointly by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and the Organization of American States (OAS). (More)

www.saberdonar.info Information and Communication Materials which Promote Good Practices in Humanitarian Donations

PAHO/WHO, in collaboration with OCHA, Intermon/OXFAM, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Food Program, UNICEF, the Regional Disaster Information Center, and with the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, have completed dissemination and technical information and training materials which make up part of the “Good practices in international humanitarian donations” initiative. (More)

Virtual Journey Through a Safe Hospital - Multimedia Training Program on Hospitals Safe from Disasters

It has been several years since PAHO opted for the use of new information technologies in the production of educational materials and technical information resources; however, with this material we have both reinforced and made a significant qualitative leap forward with regard to this option. In what way? This multimedia tool makes more intensive use of more sophisticated, efficient technologies and combines different resources and uses, making it much more versatile and easy to use while enhancing its didactic potential. (More)

Health Cluster—A Strategy to Improve Response Coordination

How can the support to countries and particularly to the health sector in the event of an emergency be optimized? This was the focus of a workshop held with coordinators of the health cluster in Quito, Ecuador, in March. The course was implemented by PAHO, in coordination with the global health cluster and the World Health Organization (WHO). (More)

Caribbean Health Risk Reduction Committee is Established

The Caribbean Health Disaster Risk Reduction (CHDRR) Committee serves as a forum for strategic discussion, bringing together partners on health and disaster, in a concerted effort to reduce disaster risks to the health sector in the Caribbean. The committee, spearheaded by PAHO, benefits from representatives from regional health organizations, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency, bilateral donors and Ministries of Health. (More)

PAHO/WHO Makes an Appeal to Fight Dengue

PAHO/WHO’s Director, Dr. Mirta Roses appealed to all countries in the Americas to increase efforts and to ensure preventive measures to respond to the growing number of cases of dengue in the region, given that in 2009 past trends could be repeated whereby serious outbreaks have been reported each three to five years. (More)

Preparedness for Re-emerging Infectious Disease Outbreaks

PAHO, with assistance from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), started a project that attempts to enhance Latin American and Caribbean countries’ capacity to cope with epidemics, establish a regional epidemic control team and develop a field guide for investigation and control of the four most frequent communicable diseases with potential for epidemics encountered in the region: malaria, dengue, leptospirosis and yellow fever. (More)

International Photography and Article Contest on Safe Hospitals

The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, in collaboration with PAHO/WHO, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNICEF and Plan International, and with the support of the World Bank, have launched a photography and journalistic article competition in the framework of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2008-2009: Hospitals Safe from Disasters. (More)

Planning of Medical and Hospital Response in Radiological Emergencies in Latin America

In situations of radiological emergencies, rapid, targeted response is essential in order to limit people’s exposure, mitigate the consequences, and restore normal conditions. In such situations, response capacity is not only linked to the availability of physical and human resources, but also to appropriate planning which guarantees quickness and efficiency. The management of patients exposed to ionizing radiation requires multidisciplinary support in which different health specializations are involved. (More)

Ten Years of Risk Management in Central America after Mitch

The Regional Inter Agency Task Force on Risk, Emergency and Disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean (REDLAC) has published the document “10 years after Hurricane Mitch: Overview of the trend in disaster risk management in Central America” In a straightforward and illustrative manner, the book sums up 10 years of efforts in the management of risk and disaster response as another contribution to progress in knowledge of the issue in Central America. (More)

Manual for the Health Care of Children in Humanitarian Emergencies

The World Health Organization has published the “Manual for the health care of children in humanitarian emergencies” which was drawn up through a global consultation process on the care of children in emergency situations, co-organized by WHO and UNICEF and initiated at the end of 2003. (More)

New Terms in Disaster Reduction

The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) has issued ISDR Terminology 2009, which promotes standardization in the use and definition of concepts relating to disaster reduction amongst authorities, professionals and the public in general. (More)

Risk Analysis IV: Simulation and Hazard Mitigations

This publication contains papers presented at RISK 2008, the 6th International Conference on Computer Simulation Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation. The contributions range from specific risks to mitigation associated with both natural and anthropogenic hazards. (More)

Medical-Architectural Program for the Design of Safe Hospitals

This Peruvian publication is presented in the framework of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2008-2009: “Hospitals Safe from Disasters” with the aim of placing within the reach of health service operators a tool for the design of a medical-architectural program which contributes to the improvement of the quality of care and the reduction of hospital functional vulnerability. (More)

CRID

Visit the CRID’s redesigned website to find out more about Safe Hospitals and to review a list of updated disaster terms. (More)