For more than two decades, PAHO has coupled the production and publication of its print and audiovisual material on disasters with an ongoing campaign to ensure that this material is widely distributed, used and easy to obtain. This is not an easy task in Latin America and the Caribbean, where our public is spread across a wide geographical area, speaks four languages and is involved in many different disaster-related disciplines. To bolster our efforts, we also rely on other means, such as this Newsletter, to reach an even greater audience.

This special supplement renews our commitment to increasing the availability of this material. In it you will find a brief summary of the most important books, CD-ROMs and information products produced over the last two years. In addition to familiar topics related to disaster preparedness (manuals and guidelines on damage assessment, hospital plans, environmental health and mental health), you will also find publications on the latest issues (such as the management of cadavers, the deployment of field hospitals in disaster situations or risks to public health from chemical and biological weapons). Electronic and multimedia formats are increasingly used and the Internet has become a key vehicle for publication and dissemination.

There are several ways to consult and obtain these materials. We recommend visiting the Health Library for Disasters (www.helid.desastres.net), which contains the full-text version of more than 500 publications from a variety of agencies on many aspects of disasters. In PAHO’s electronic Disaster Publications Catalog, which is available on our web site, you will also find the full-text version of all new material mentioned in this Supplement. Visit www.paho.org/disasters and click on Publication Catalog or write to disaster-publications@paho.org to order any of this material. Readers in the Caribbean may visit the Documentation Center in the PAHO/WHO Office in their country.

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