PREPAREDNESS AND MITIGATION IN THE AMERICAS Issue No. 82 News and Information for the International Disaster Community October 2000 Health: A Bridge to Peace in Colombia iolence has displaced much of the rural benefit that the remainder of Colombia’s popula- population of Colombia’s 40 million tion has been able to maintain. This number Vinhabitants. In its search for safer places includes those displaced by violence. By mid- to live, the internally displaced population (IDP) 1999, the situation had deteriorated to the point has lost its income and compromised access to that forced migration had overwhelmed approxi- health services. In the last four years, the number mately 100 of the 1,090 Colombian municipali- of displaced persons has grown at an alarming rate ties. The number also includes those who may not and each day affects a much broader geographical have been displaced, but who live in such an inse- area. In Colombia, the size of the internally dis- cure environment that health care providers have placed population increased from 89,000 in 1995 evacuated the area, resulting in the further disrup- to as many as 288,000 by the end of 1999 (figures tion of health services. from CODHES, Consultoría para los Derechos Other difficulties arise when IDPs resettle in Humanos y el Desplazamiento). areas that were already plagued with problems— Equity is a major issue in the debate over access lack of access to potable water or inadequate shel- to health services. Depending on the source of ter. The health services, which were not designed information, between 500,000 and 2 million per- to suddenly absorb such an increase in demand, I N S I D E sons have been deprived of access to health care, a (cont. on page 7) News from Hurricane Keith PAHO/WHO 2 The strongest hurricane to Other hit the Caribbean this Organizations 3 year, Hurricane Keith had Member a serious impact on the Countries 4 health sector in Belize, Review of proving once again the Publications 6 need to protect critical Selected health facilities and Bibliography 8 improve post-disaster epi- Supplement on demiological surveillance. Publications S-1 See full report on page 4. ISSN 1564-0701 News from PAHO/WHO here is no doubt that a Tgreat deal of k n o w l e d g e — both practical and scientific— resides among the disas- ter community in Latin America and the Caribbean. H o w e v e r, in many countries the primary contribution of these pro- fessionals has been in the form of Thirty participants from 18 countries in the technical expertise: assessing dam- Americas and Europe gathered for two and a half ages to health infrastructure, setting weeks to focus on the managerial aspects of disas- up disease surveillance systems or ters and risk reduction. The participants examined updating emergency plans. By con- areas such as geographic information systems trast, those at the very highest level (GIS), resource mobilization, project formulation, of decision making often lack spe- the use of the Internet and other technologies in cialized technical knowledge about disasters, mental health, transparency in emer- The LIDERES course disasters, accounting for the fact that some impor- gency supply management, complex emergencies, involved more than tant decisions, particularly those concerning disas- and others. ter mitigation, are left untaken. The regional LIDERES 2001 course will be classroom time. To bridge this gap, PAHO held the first of what held next June in San Jose, Costa Rica. Similar Here, participants will become an annual course—LIDERES—in courses focusing on specific geographic regions of meet with communi- September in Quito, Ecuador. The course was the Americas are planned to take place in Ecuador directed at top-level professionals with broad and A rgentina. Further updates on the LIDERES ty leaders from experience in disaster situations from a wide vari- initiative will be available through this newsletter, towns near the ety of organizations and sectors (health ministries, on our web site and by e-mail. If you would like Tungurahua national disaster offices, the Red Cross, financing more information on LIDERES, contact c u r s o - institutions, UN and other cooperation agencies). [email protected]. volcano. Basic Health Indicators 2000 PAHO/WHO Deliver Workshops PAHO has just published the latest edition in Nepal of the brochure Health Situation in the This is the second year that the Health Sector Americas: Basic Indicators 2000. This pub- Contingency Planning Workshop, designed by lication contains the most up-to-date demo- PAHO, was given in Kathmandu and Pokhara, graphic, mortality and socioeconomic indi- Nepal. cators essential for characterizing the These two workshops were planned jointly by health situation of countries of the PAHO’s office in Barbados, by WHO’s Southeast Americas. This information is also used Asia Regional Office and WHO Nepal, with the as an important resource in collective support of the Nepalese Ministry of Health. One actions for disaster planning and of the most important outputs of these workshops humanitarian assistance. T h i s was a proposal for emergency response proce- brochure is a summary of a more comprehen- dures for Nepalese organizations at the central, sive database compiled and maintained as part of regional and district levels. Once finalized, these PA H O ’s Core Health Data Initiative. This year’s procedures will form part of the Nepalese Health issue along with the last three are available at Sector Contingency Plan Against Earthquakes. w w w. p a h o . o rg / (search for basic indicators). For For more information contact: v a n a l p h d @ more information e-mail: [email protected]. cpc.paho.org . 2 Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas • October 2000 Other Organizations CAT Project Models Costs of The NLM and CRID Join Forces to Improve Disasters Access to Information on Health and Disasters The Natural Catastrophes and Developing CRID, the Regional Disaster Countries (CAT) Project is part of a research part- Information Center, with support from nership with the World Bank’s Disaster the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Management Facility and the Swiss Reinsurance has begun a new project to improve Company. The CAT team is developing four case access to health and disaster information studies on the impacts of natural disasters on the sources in two highly disaster- p r o n e economies of A rgentina, Honduras, Nicaragua, countries: Honduras and Nicaragua. and Mozambique. The long-term objective is to With a view to sustaining these activi- build a planning tool that can assist developing ties in the future, the project has selected countries to evaluate options to prevent, mitigate, university libraries in these two countries or transfer the costs of natural catastrophes. as priority centers to gather and dissemi- Visit the CAT website at h t t p : / / w w w. i i a s a . nate technical and scientific disaster and ac.at/Research/CAT/index.html for descriptions of health information. The centers will be strengthened in three areas: the projects and more. • Internet connectivity and basic computer resources • Training, carried out at both the NLM and at the CRID in Costa Rica UNOPS: Post-Conflict Managers’ • The creation of special disaster and health information services (full-text Guide Published documents, databases, training material, etc.) Because these information services will be provided and accessed The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) through the Internet, there will be other important direct and indirect bene- has published a guide for project managers carry- fits, not only for the two target countries: ing out rehabilitation and reconstruction in coun- • Access to powerful NLM information resources will be promoted and tries recovering from wars or natural disasters. facilitated through a special website, especially for information on toxi- The manual, Operational Guide: Rehabilitation cology and environmental health. and Social Sustainability, draws on experiences • Training material will be published in Spanish on information manage- from the past decade in more than 20 countries, ment and its use, adapted to the realities and needs of users in Central using a variety of specialized agencies both within America. the UN and otherwise. To order this publication e- • All documents and information sources gathered and selected under this mail: [email protected] or fax (41-22) 917-8060. project will be available on-line and free of charge. For example, a sub- stantial number of the existing documents in CRID (presently available Reducing Vulnerability to only in hard copy) will available on the Internet, benefiting not only Natural Disasters in Urban Latin Honduras and Nicaragua, but also all interested countries. This is the first specific project that NLM is supporting in Central America America. By channeling support through the Regional Disaster Information The 10th International Congress of Latin C e n t e r, CRID will be strengthened in terms of capabilities and technical American and Caribbean Studies will take place resources. The Center also has the technical support of the Center for 26-29 June 2001 in Moscow. The workshops at Public Service Communications, which this meeting will focus on several multidiscipli- has extensive experience in the use of nary themes including: vulnerability and poverty, telecommunications in emergencies and past experience and lessons learned in natural dis- disasters. PAHO, which is already one of asters and environmental degradation in relation C R I D ’s major partners, is deeply com- to the increase in vulnerability. mitted to supporting the project both For more information visit: w w w. c r i c y t . e d u . a r / technically and administratively, and c o n g r e s o s, e-mail: c o n g r e s o - i l a @ m t u - n e t .