Today is also World Health Day. Each year, World Health Day focuses on a major health issue. Last year focused on climate change. This year is focused on the safety and quality of health facilities, especially their ability to handle the health effects of major disasters.
"When an emergency or disaster occurs, most lives are lost or saved in the immediate aftermath of the event," Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, said in her statement. "The tragedy of a major emergency or disaster is compounded when health facilities fail...In large emergencies, such as those caused by earthquakes or floods, some countries have lost as much as 50% of their hospital capacity, right at the time when life-saving services were most acutely needed."
In 2008, there was an alarming increase in natural disaster deaths. According to the WHO, 235,816 people were killed last year by such disasters. This was four times higher than the average death toll over the previous seven years. This increase was the result of two major natural disasters--Cyclone Nagris in Myanmar and a major earthquake in China.
The World Health Organization offered six solutions to help with the problem of insecure healthcare facilities.
1. Situate, design and build new health facilities
2. Assess the safety of existing facilities
3. Retrofit existing facilities
4. Protect non-structural elements: essential services, equipment, medicines
5. Plan and train for emergencies
6, Build partnerships for safe health facilities
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