Issue No. 90 News and Information for the International Community January 2003 Editorial When the Displaced Cross Borders: Hospital Disaster Planning Course Now The Case of Darien, Panama on CD-ROM Colombia and bordering countries: massive population displacement resulting from the armed conflict. According to official figures, 868 people left their homes each day in 2002 because of the conflict; 189 homes were abandoned. These figures are countrywide; official data reports 967 affected municipali- ties this past year. ithin the overall health In addition to the effects of the conflict system, hospitals have an inside Colombia itself, another concern has Wessential function in disas- emerged: just how many Colombians have ter situations: they frequently find crossed borders into neighboring countries to themselves at the heart of the escape the armed conflict and how are they response efforts and are usually the faring? natural place to which the population AHO/WHO, C. Garzon P In the case of the Province of Darien, turns to meet their immediate health Panama, a country of contrasts. At right, Panama, along Colombia’s northern border, needs. The emergency situation sur- the capital, Panama City. To the left, the first wave of displaced persons began to rounding hospitals can provoke an scenes from along the Colombia-Panama cross the border into Panama in 1996. Since internal crisis, posing a risk to the border. most of the border area is jungle, the places health of patients, the infrastructure in which refugees could settle were limited itself, equipment and the hospital’s he breakdown in talks and the nego- (Jaque, Alto Tuira, Punuza, Boca de Cupe, ability to function. Hospitals must tiation process between the Yape, Yaviza, El Real, Pinogana and Sambu). have solid plans to identify and TColombian Government and insur- Although the number of people crossing the reduce risks if they are to face disas- gent groups in February 2002 has seriously border from Colombia into Panama ters, both external and internal. exacerbated a recurring problem for (continued on page 7) (more on page 6) News from PAHO/WHO . 2 Contents Other Organizations . 3 Member Countries. Pan American 4 Health Organization Publications and Multimedia. Regional Office of the 6 World Health Organization Selected Bibliography . 8 ISSN 1564-0701 The Newsletter Survey: Healthy Housing is also Disaster-Resistant in El Results and Changes Salvador n response to the survery, we received almost 700 evaluations with a number of PAHO/WHO’s Office in El Salvador recently very good suggestions. During its 20 years of publication, the fundamental published the story of the construction of the Ipurpose of this Newsletter has been to encourage people to communicate hor- Villa Centenario, an example of healthy housing izontally, across borders, about important disaster issues of common interest. The that is also earthquake resistant. In the wake of Newsletter is not meant to be a scientific journal; rather its aim is to briefly the January and February 2001 earthquakes that inform people about relevant topics and events in Latin America and the seriously affected virtually every public sector in Caribbean and serve as an impetus to initiate dialogue and learn more. This is El Salvador, the Villa is based on a PAHO pro- totype, designed to correct deficiencies in basic why we try to include a website and/or e-mail address in our articles. One com- housing in rural areas. The complex of 100 mon suggestion from subscribers was to include more information on a variety of houses provides safe low-cost housing in an topics, including mental health, education and complex emergencies. We will take environment that takes into account basic this into account in future Newsletters and you will notice that one of the front health necessities such as safe running water and page articles in this issue deals with the displaced population in Colombia that is storage, proper sanitary facilities, screened doors spilling across borders into neighboring countries. and windows and other features, in addition to Over 65% of those responding expressed interest in receiving an electronic ver- its earthquake resistance. sion of the newsletter. As a result, we will now e-mail the Newsletter in PDF for- The Government of El Salvador awarded the mat to those who wish to receive it. This should reduce delivery time (another national Medal for Civil Protection to the Villa common concern) by about three weeks. If you would like to receive the Centenario. The Spanish-language publication Newsletter electronically and have not yet been added to the list, write to disaster- is available on PAHO’s web at www.paho.org/ [email protected]. spanish/ped/villa_cent.htm and www.ops.org. sv/. For print copies, contact Dr. Jorge Jenkins, We appreciated your valuable input and suggestions. You can still complete the PAHO/WHO El Salvador, at [email protected] survey online at: www.paho.org/english/ped/newsletter.htm. oms.org. Field Hospitals: field hospitals may be considerable and Is the Investment Worth It ? they are not the only solution to rapidly providing health care. Field hospitals are AHO has initiated a project to sent to save lives—but they arrive days assess the comparative advantages or weeks after the disaster, long after the Pand disadvantages of field hospi- most life-threatening injuries have been tals in post-disaster situations and pre- dealt with. Once in the country, they pare guidelines on requesting or sending remain in place for weeks (or even them in the aftermath of natural disasters. years), thus presenting the added burden Often, hospitals are evacuated follow- of maintaining a temporary health facility. ing a disaster, whether or not the cir- Since little is known concerning the cumstances justify it. This has left many real benefits that field hospitals repre- people who prior to the disaster had sent, an in-depth analysis of the use of access to health care, suddenly without field hospitals in the aftermath of disas- medical attention. ters will yield the key elements decision However, an increasing number of makers need to evaluate their appropri- health professionals are questioning this ateness. More in future issues of this common practice. The hidden cost of Newsletter. AHO/WHO P 2 Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas • January 2003 Grants for Disaster Risk Reduction UNICEF supports humanitarian management The ProVention Consortium, a global coalition of govern- system in Africa ments, international organizations, academic institutions, the private sector and civil society organizations aimed at reducing the impact of disasters in developing countries, is sponsoring a competitive forum to support innovative disaster risk manage- ment projects. Students and young professionals from developing countries are invited to propose creative projects and ideas. Proposals may include research projects, professional internships or pro- fessional development programs. Applications will be screened by a jury consisting of ProVention Consortium partners. WHO, I. Pluut Awards will be made to proposals with the potential of making a significant contribution to the field. The selected projects will NICEF Representatives from 25 African coun- tries and from Denmark, together with delegates be awarded a maximum grant of US$5000 and must be com- Ufrom WHO’s Regional Office for Africa, attend- pleted within six months of award under the guidance of a fac- ed a UNICEF-supported Regional Workshop on Logistics ulty advisor or mentor who is a disaster professional. Deadline and Emergencies/Supply Management in Gambia, West for submission is February 28, 2003. More information is Africa from 27 October-1 November. One of the objec- available at: www.proventionconsortium.org. Send proposals tives of the workshop was to get to know information by e mail to: [email protected]. management tools such as SUMA and other logistics sys- tems used by UNICEF and the German development cooperation agency (GTZ). GDIN 2003 Conference to be Held in The July issue of the newsletter mentioned ongoing Washington, D.C. interagency collaboration in the field of humanitarian logistics. Specifically, WHO, PAHO, OCHA and WFP GDIN, the Global Disaster Information Network, is a not- are looking at ways to establish, at the global level, a plat- for-profit, independent association of nations, organizations, form to exchange information among existing logistical and professionals from all sectors of society including NGOs, support systems and develop a standard tool for the com- industry, academia, governments, and international organiza- mon classification of emergency supplies. UNICEF’s rich tions with an interest in sharing disaster information. experience in humanitarian logistics will make the agency This next GDIN conference, intended to help disaster man- a key partner in these global efforts. UNHCR is also con- agers discover innovative approaches to developing and sharing tributing to this effort. disaster information, will be held November 4-7 2003 in The workshop provided an ideal scenario to test the Washington D.C. Conference sessions will cover GIS and recently launched English and French versions of SUMA remote sensing; emergency telecommunications; infectious dis- and was particularly helpful because the participants had a great deal of experience in highly demanding and complex eases; NGOs and community needs; technological develop- emergencies in which logistics play a central role, and thus ments; disaster managers’ needs; information management; were able to offer excellent suggestions. research developments; education disaster recovery; UN For more information, contact Isis Pluut at humanitarian relief operations and more. Visit www.gdin.org [email protected]. for details and to register. Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas • January 2003 3 Barbados Hosts Moyogalpa, Nicaragua and Santa Ana, Costa Rica Mitigation Seminar Display Spirit of Pan-Americanism Last September, 65 participants from 23 coun- tries and international, regional and national organizations participated in a seminar in Barbados on the Design of Health Facilities to Resist Natural Hazards.