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Matangi Tonga (www.matangitonga.to) 

Press Releases 

International Day for Disaster Reduction 

15 Oct 2009, 17:09 

Geneva, Switzerland 
 
Urgent action needed to protect hospitals from natural hazards 
 
THE tragedies that struck the Asia and Pacific region this month underscore 
the urgent action that must be taken to better protect hospitals from natural 
disasters. Large-scale human suffering is exacerbated when the very services 
that are most needed to save lives - hospitals, clinics and other health 
facilities - are counted among the casualties. 
 
Today, the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 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 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 heath 
sectors have a budget allocation for risk reduction and emergency 
preparedness.  
 
Hospitals and heath facilities are in the frontline when floods, hurricanes, 
cyclones, and earthquakes strike and many are adversely impacted because 
safety measures were not integrated in their design, construction and 
functionality. There are at least 90 000 hospitals and other health facilities in 
the world's 49 least-developed countries, many of which are vulnerable to 
disasters, including those related to the harmful effects of climate change. 
 
"No new hospital should be built unless it can withstand the impact of natural 

 

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hazards," Ms Wahlström adds. "Existing health facilities should also be 
assessed for their safety and action take to improve their safety and the level 
of their preparedness." 
 
Several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have already assessed 
the safety of their health facilities and set priorities for making improvements. 
Mexico has demonstrated that it is possible to make hospitals safer by 
applying a Hospital Safety Index to more than 1000 of its high-risk facilities. 
The Hospital Safety Index measures 145 crucial spots in hospitals that will 
allow their safety classification according to three main levels. 
 
The Hospital Safety Index has now been applied to many facilities in Bolivia, 
Ecuador and Peru and in countries elsewhere in the world, such as Oman, 
Sudan and Tajikistan. Dubai, within the United Arab Emirates has also 
committed to assessing half of its hospitals by 2010 and the reminder by the 
end of 2011. Hundreds of health professionals worldwide have been trained in 
emergency preparedness. 
 
WHO will continue working with governments to achieve the objectives of the 
campaign and assure that they remain a priority for governments together 
with financial institutions, private and non-government organizations, 
professional bodies, health institutions and workforce, and international 
agencies. 
 
The campaign has also led to today's launch in London, hosted by the UK 
Health Protection Agency, of an International Thematic Platform on Disaster 
Risk Reduction for health, which will facilitate action from international and 
national partners on reducing deaths, injuries and illness from emergencies, 
disasters and other crises. 
 
"Preparedness and risk reduction is the way ahead in health and humanitarian 
action.  
 
By working together, countries and communities can deal with these risks, 
particularly by reducing vulnerabilities and building capacities to mitigate and 
respond to all emergencies they may face," said Dr Eric Laroche, WHO's 
Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crises. 
 
The last Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held in Geneva proposed 
that by 2011 national assessments of the safety of existing health facilities 
should be undertaken, and that by 2015 concrete action plans for safer 
hospitals should be developed and implemented in all disaster prone 
countries. Hospital safety will remain one of the main elements of the new 
UNISDR campaign on cities at risk that will be launched next year. WHO, 
14/10/09. 
 
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