Consultative Theme 1: Health status is a risk factor during emergencies and disasters. Access to basic health care and public health services improves health outcomes throughout the risk management cycle
Primary Considerations:
∙ Populations that include individuals with poor baseline health face increased risk during disasters
∙ Addressing underlying health conditions improves the resilience and recovery of those affected by disasters.
∙ Access to adequate health services through prepared health systems that remain functional during and after a disaster.
∙ Strengthening health infrastructure provides dual utility for health promotion and disaster response and strengthens the ability of population to react to unforeseen future risks
∙ Disease and injury surveillance identifies underlying risks and needs
∙ Community and individuals with strong behavioral health recover better than those with behavioral health issues.
∙ Improved health promotes economic viability
Recommendations:
∙ Promote the concept of shared responsibility for disaster risk reduction between individuals and their communities;
∙ Encourage collaborative health solutions through public/private partnerships
∙ Ensure that behavioral health services are embedded in community health systems
∙ Identify health conditions present in the community that would be exacerbated during a disaster
∙ Utilize public health disease metrics, rates/burdens of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and access measures
Consultative Theme 2: Public health and medical experts must be engaged in the disaster risk management process at all levels
Primary Considerations:
∙ Health emergencies are potential disasters and all emergencies have health impacts
∙ Many determinants of health are outside of medical services (i.e. poverty)
∙ Health planning, response, and recovery require integration with other response resources
∙ Improved coordination reduces burden on health system
Recommendations:
∙ Engage health and medical experts in the disaster risk management (DRM) process at all levels
∙ Identify and train a cadre of health providers who understand disaster risk reduction (DRR) and emergency planning
∙ Encourage health providers to participate in DRR planning; all DRR plans should include health component
∙ DRM plans should include how external support is integrated into response plans
Consultative Theme 3: Engage and empower vulnerable populations to identify their own needs and develop strategies to lower their risks and enhance their resilience
Primary Considerations:
∙ Risks vary by community scenario; often disenfranchised
∙ Not all vulnerable populations are defined by a health state
∙ Vulnerabilities lead to health outcome disparities in certain populations
Recommendations:
∙ Develop mechanisms to identify and map vulnerable populations
∙ Involve vulnerable populations when developing DRR strategies
∙ Study the relationship between vulnerabilities and disaster health through an international science advisory mechanism
∙ Implement Article 11 of the “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”
∙ Maximize universal design approaches that benefit all while planning for the most vulnerable groups, i.e.: wheelchair ramps, liquid medicine
∙ All populations, including the vulnerable, should have access to facilities and services.
