Regional Meetings Will Identify Mitigation Agenda for the Americas

Ten years after the Yokohama Conference, held in 1995 at the mid-point of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, the international community has demonstrated some results through declarations and agreements, but concrete action has been slow to materialize. The Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction, scheduled for January 2005 in Kobe, Japan, is expected to continue identifying practical and concrete ways to incorporate disaster risk reduction into poverty reduction, development and environmental strategies, and to ensure the continuum from relief to sustainable development.

In preparation for the Conference, PAHO will sponsor a series of preparatory meetings in the Americas to identify gaps that still exist in the disaster mitigation agenda regionwide. This regional analysis will form the basis of the agenda of the Americas on disaster mitigation, which will be presented at the Kobe Conference. Meetings are scheduled to take place in Chile in March; Nicaragua in April and the Caribbean in June. More in coming issues of this Newsletter.

Strengthening Military-Civilian Cooperation in the Americas

The Armed Forces can play an important role in disaster situations. Their organization, discipline, personnel and resources can greatly benefit the affected population if their assets are used to support civilian institutions and authorities. To contribute to achieving this objective, the Inter-American Defense College invited high-level military officers and civilian authorities from 16 countries in the Americas to participate in a workshop on emergencies and disasters.

The seminar, part of ongoing IADC-PAHO efforts, provided the forum to discuss important disaster response and risk management topics and others about which there is growing interest, such as the deliberate release of biological and chemical substances. The participation of other actors in the international arena—diplomatic missions, national disaster response agencies, regional and subregional integration agencies and U.N. agencies—allowed positive conclusions to be reached will have long term benefits for civilian-military collaboration. For more information, contact Dr. Ciro Ugarte, ugarteci@paho.org.

Project to Enhance Emergency Surveillance System in Haiti

During the past several years, average life expectancy in Haiti has dropped to 49.6 at birth. Due to economic sanctions and the already pervasive state of poverty, the health status is expected to decline even further. However, as information is scarce and not consolidated, it will be difficult to detect changes early enough to curb the effects.

In view of this scenario, PAHO has launched a project to strengthen the existing epidemiological surveillance system, established by the Ministry of Public Health and PAHO more than three years ago. The sentinel sites are all clinics or hospitals managed by NGOs, religious organizations and the Ministry of Public Health.

It is expected that with the help of the project, the country capacity to solve health crises and coordination and collaboration among agencies involved in the health response will be improved. A monthly report on selected epidemiological data will be
produced.

INCAP, the Center for Nutrition based in Guatemala, will be involved in the collection and analysis of nutritional data. The results will be used in the design of aid projects and as an early warning system. For more information contact Dr. Dana van Alphen at vanalphe@paho.org.