Natural disasters often increase morbidity and mortality rates. Taking appropriate measures to maintain environmental health helps to reduce or eliminate the risks of preventable disease and death. Such measures contribute not only to the health of individuals in and near disaster-stricken areas, bu...t they also contribute to decreasing the high costs of providing emergency health services in the aftermath of disaster.
This document is divided into several parts. The first section primarily addresses the effects of natural disasters on environmental health conditions and services. In the second section, environmental health measures are described that should be undertaken in each of three time frames: the predisaster, disaster, and postdisaster periods.
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It provides insight into WHO’s work that aims to improve the health of the people of the United Republic of Tanzania in collaboration with key stakeholders.
Myanmar has made significant progress in its disaster management policies, plans, and procedures since 2008, when Cyclone Nargis impacted the country leaving devastation in its aftermath. The Government of Myanmar (GoM) has modified the government structure and created new authorities and plans to i...mprove the effectiveness of disaster management at all levels. While this progress is encouraging and shows the determination of the government to make necessary adjustments, the resources to implement the policy changes have been slower to develop. Myanmar has made significant progress in its disaster management policies, plans, and procedures since 2008, when Cyclone Nargis impacted the country leaving devastation in its aftermath. The Government of Myanmar (GoM) has modified the government structure and created new authorities and plans to improve the effectiveness of disaster management at all levels. While this progress is encouraging and shows the determination of the government to make necessary adjustments, the resources to implement the policy changes have been slower to develop.
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Health Systems for Outcomes Publication | This report summarizes the findings of a qualitative study on health workers’ performance and career in Rwanda to identify bottlenecks, strengths and shortcomings for human resources in the health sector, as perceived by both health workers and users of he...alth services.
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The Indonesian government has reformed its laws, policies, and institutions to better manage disaster risk since the significant 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The Government of Indonesia now has contingency plans for every disaster-prone city which identifies its vulnerabilities, outlines the relief re...sponse, and builds overall preparedness. In 2007, the government introduced a disaster management bill that incorporated disaster management prevention into disaster management response. In 2008, Indonesia created the National Disaster Management Agency (Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana, BNPB). The new shift led to the strengthening of the country’s disaster management agency, and the addition of district branches and representatives. Despite the progress made, more work is needed at the local level as well as integration of disaster risk reduction in government departments.11 Under Indonesia’s 2007 Disaster Management law, provincial and district administrations are mandated to head disaster management during a crisis.
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Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), also referred to as Laos, or Lao, is exposed to natural disasters such as flooding, typhoons, cyclones, drought, and earthquakes. The country is vulnerable to recurrent, sudden-onset and slow onset natural disasters with flooding, storms and typhoons hav...ing a large effect on the population. The country remains highly vulnerable to agricultural shocks and natural disasters.
Lao has established Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) practices as a result of the many natural disasters the country faces. CBDRR is implemented at the village level to enhance community preparedness and to decrease village vulnerabilities to disasters.
Lao established the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC) as its national disaster management platform and the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to be responsible for DRM (Disaster Risk Management) and DRR activities in the country.
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Thailand is exposed to flooding, landslides, drought, earthquakes, tsunamis, heat waves, forest fires, and epidemics. Thailand is also exposed to technological hazards such as chemical accidents. Flooding is the natural hazard with the most significant impact on human life, livelihoods, and the econ...omy for the country. The occurrence of droughts has increased in recent years due to the effects of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, which brings drier-than-average rainfall conditions. Drought has adversely impacted the country’s agriculture sector, which employs around one third of the country’s workforce.
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Strengthening resilient agricultural livelihoods
Level 3 responses are activated in the most complex and challenging humanitarian emergencies, when the highest level of mobilization is required across the humanitarian system. Even before the conflict escalated, the country suffered high levels of p...overty, food insecurity, undernutrition and malnutrition, water shortages and land degradation. Yemenis are also facing armed conflict, displacement, risk of famine and disease outbreaks.
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Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 111
The health services delivery system in Zambia is pyramid in structure, with primary healthcare (PHC) services at community level, at the base, followed by first and second level hospitals at distric...t and provincial levels, respectively, and third level (tertiary) services at national level. Notably, primary health services are free in Zambia and health service providers are either governmentowned or not-for-profit facilities.
Over the years, resource constraints have affected the quality and extent of healthcare services at all levels, requiring the mobilisation of additional resources for the sector. In doing so, prioritisation was high on the agenda of health sector reform. The EHB, therefore, prioritises interventions with the highest impact on the population, enabling policy makers to revisit priority diseases and conditions and to cost the services provided at each level of facility. Other key issues in developing the EHB in Zambia have included the need to have cost-effective services and cost per capita of services for more systematic budgeting, to rank interventions and to validate and cost the health benefit package as a whole.
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This strategy, produced by IFRC, UNICEF and WHO, provides an overview of RCCE coordination approach and priorities across the different phases of the COVID-19 preparedness and response
The Event-based Surveillance Framework is intended to be used by authorities and agencies responsible for
surveillance and response. This framework serves as an outline to guide stakeholders interested in implementing
event-based surveillance (EBS) using a multisectoral, One Health approach. To ...that end, the document is arranged
in interlinked chapters and annexes that can be modified and adapted, as needed, by users.
This is a revised version of the original “Framework for Event-based Surveillance” that was published in 2018. This
framework does not replace any other available EBS materials, but rather builds on existing relevant or related
documents and serves as a practical guide for the implementation of EBS in Africa. This framework is aligned with
the third edition of the WHO Joint External Evaluation for the following indicators: strengthened early warning
surveillance systems that are able to detect events of significance for public health and health security (Indicator
D2.1); improved communication and collaboration across sectors and between National, intermediate and local
public health response levels of authority regarding surveillance of events of public health significance (Indicator
D2.2); and improved national and intermediate-level capacity to analyse data (Indicator D2.3). As countries begin
to implement and demonstrate EBS functionality they will ensure an increase in JEE scores and progress towards
meeting the requirements outlined in the IHR3F
Additionally, in African Union Member States that have adopted the Integrated Disease Surveillance and
Response (IDSR) strategy, this document is a complement to and can enhance the implementation of IDSR,
especially for the 3rd edition (2019) that includes components related to EBS.
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