In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

Today, October 14th, is “International Day For Disaster Reduction.” According to a press release:

Today, the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) dedicates its annual International Day for Disaster Reduction to the urgent need to make “Hospitals Safe from Disasters.” Dozens of hospitals and heath facilities each year are themselves impacted by floods, hurricanes, cyclones, earthquakes and other natural hazards because safety measures were not integrated in their design, location or construction.

The “Hospitals Safe from Disasters” theme was also used for the 2008-09 World Disaster Reduction campaign that culminates today. This two-year campaign has been a joint initiative of UNISDR, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank aimed at ensuring people’s access to functioning health facilities during and after natural hazards. The ISDR system is using today’s event to highlight the gains made during the campaign and the work that still needs to be done in making hospitals safer from disasters.

“Since the beginning of the campaign, much has been achieved to make hospitals safer but more investments are still needed to improve the functionality of hospital when disasters occur,” says Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction. According to a recent WHO survey, only 50% of all country’s health sectors have a budget allocation for risk reduction and emergency preparedness.

For more information, go to the UNISDR website here. (Thanks to friend of this blog, Roberto De Vido who writes the Notes From The Congo blog for bringing the Day to my attention.)