People with disabilities around the world face discrimination in their daily lives, including in their abilities to access public services and infrastructure. But what are the experiences of people with disabilities during disasters and emergencies? Do emergency responses take into account their needs? In this blog, Obindra B. Chand and Pallav Pant look at the current challenges facing people with disabilities during times of crisis in Nepal.
The objective of this strategic review is to produce evidence-based options and recommendations for DFID’s strategy for engagement in Pakistan’s health and population sector over the next 3-5 years.The report suggests approaches that will work with- rather than just through– Government, enabling other stakeholders to complement and strengthen government services. For example, national/international NGOs might be contracted in certain districts by the provincial governments to help the latter deliver more and better sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services through the primary healthcare network.
Where primary healthcare is already contracted out the contractee/service provider should be encouraged to follow the same principle and contract in or out certain services (like SRH) so as to ensure synergy between SRH and maternal, neonatal and child health services and outputs.The 2 main themes recommended for support would include:Supporting the transition between emergency support and sustainable health programmes in flood-affected districts.Supporting the transition from centralised vertical programmes to more effective locally-led more integrated services.
The Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to AdvanceClimate Change Adaptation(SREX) was commissioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)in response to a recognised need to provide specific advice on climate change, extreme weather and climate events(‘climate extremes’). The SREX report was written over two and a half years, compiled by220 expert authors, 19 review editors and taking account of almost 19,000 comments. It went through three rigorous drafting processes with expert and government review. The findings were approved by the world’s governments following a four-day meeting, where theSummary for Policy Makers was agreed. It thus provides the bestscientific assessment available to date. It comprises a policy summary released in November2011 and the full report released in March 2012 (available online at http://ipcc-wg2.gov/srex).This summary highlights the key findings of the SREX report from an African perspective,including an assessment of the science and the implications of this for society and sustainable development.
Two decades of work delivering health care in poor communities provide a standpoint from which to challenge conventional doctrines in human rights and public health. These orthodoxies include the priority often assigned to civil and political rights over economic and social rights and a narrow concept of cost-effectiveness in public health policy. An analysis based on economic and social rights underscores, for example, that effectively treating infectious diseases in poor communities requires ensuring that people receive adequate food. The challenge of maternal mortality in low-income settings similarly shows the need for an approach to rights that is simultaneously comprehensive and pragmatic.
In many settings, paying community health workers for their efforts on behalf of their neighbours can also be seen as a critical strategy to realise rights. Across contexts, the yield on the expanded and pragmatic view of health and human rights adumbrated here may be considerable.