PHA-Exch> WHO LAUNCHES GLOBAL CAMPAIGN TO MAKE HOSPITALS SAFE FROM DISASTERS

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Vern Weitzel <vern at coombs.anu.edu.au>
crossposted from : "[health-vn discussion group]" <
health-vn at cairo.anu.edu.au>

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
(<"
http://www.unisdr.org/eng/public_aware/world_camp/2008-2009/wdrc-2008-2009.html
">UN/ISDR)
is launching the "Hospitals Safe from Disasters" campaign tomorrow in Davos,
Switzerland, along with the World Health Organization
(<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) and the <"http://www.worldbank.org">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.
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