WORLD HEALTH DAY
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01:46 pm | April 07, 2009
Society
The World Health Organization is today recommending six core
actions that governments, public health authorities and hospital
managers can undertake to make their health facilities safe during
emergencies. These include training health workers, designing and
building safe hospitals, retrofitting existing health facilities to
make them more resilient and ensuring staff and supplies are secure
during natural disasters, conflicts, outbreaks and other emergencies.
To mark today’s celebration of World Health Day, WHO is focussing
attention on the large numbers of lives that can be saved during
earthquakes, floods , conflicts and other emergencies if hospitals
are better designed and constructed and health staff well trained
to respond.
"With our world threatened by the harmful effects of climate change,
more frequent extreme weather events and armed conflicts, it is
crucial that we all do more to ensure that health care is available
at all times to our citizens , before, during, or after a disaster"
said WHO Director – General Dr. Margaret Chan.
Too often, health facilities are the first casualties of
emergencies. This means that health workers are killed and wounded,
that services are not available to treat survivors and that large
investments of valuable health funding in health facility construction
and equipment are squandered.
Relatively inexpensive investments in infrastructure can save lives
during disasters. Retrofitting non-structural elements in an otherwise
structurally sound facility costs about 1% of the hospital’s budget
but will protect about 90% of its value.
Infectious disease outbreaks are another form of public health
emergency that staff should be trained for. In areas affected by
conflicts, hospitals and clinics should be allowed to function
by all parties in line with international humanitarian law WHO is
urging all ministries of health to review the safety of existing
health facilities and to ensure that any new facilities are built
with safety in mind. Practical and effective low cost measures such
as protecting equipment, developing emergency preparedness plans and
training staff can help make health facilities safer, better prepared
and more functional in emergencies
The six core actions that governments, public health authorities and
others who operate hospitals and health care facilities can take are:
1. Assess the security of your hospital 2. Protect and train health
workers for emergencies 3. Plan for emergency response 4. Design and
build resilient hospitals 5. Adopt national policies and programmes
for safe hospitals 6. Protect equipment, medicines and supplies
More information about the World Health Day 2009 campaign on improving
health facility safety, preparedness and response to emergencies can
be found on html
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