Global Public Health Threats and Disaster Management

Abstract

Major emergencies, disasters and other crises do not respect national borders and never occur at convenient times. The magnitude of human suffering caused by these events is huge, and many aspects of people’s lives are affected – health, security, housing, access to food, water and other life commodities, to name just a few. That is why it is vital to strengthen public health preparedness and response to different natural and man-made disasters. Disaster management has a crucial role in mitigation of disaster consequences. The aim of disaster management is to support countries in building their emergency response capacities, stressing a multisectoral and comprehensive approach in terms of risk reduction. Since the risk is a function of the hazards to which a community is exposed and the vulnerabilities of that community, the risk can be modified by the level of the emergency preparedness of the community at risk. The challenge is to put in place systematic capacities such as: legislation, plans, coordination mechanisms and procedures, institutional capacities and budgets, skilled personnel, information, and public awareness and participation that can measurably reduce future risks and losses. Emergency preparedness is a programme of long-term activities whose goals are to strengthen the overall capacity and capability of a country to manage efficiently all types of emergencies. It requires development of emergency plans, training of personnel at all levels and in all sectors, education of communities at risk, and monitoring and regular evaluation of these measures. The main goal of this module is to give more detailed and comprehensive approach to the definition of the major incidents, scientific evidence for public health importance of specific type of emergencies/disasters and basic elements for disaster management with special emphasis to risk assessment and emergency preparedness programmes.