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Background report
The Implications of Climate Change for Health in Africa
The interactions between health and climate change are clearly recognised; the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change includes a chapter on health issues in all its publications. But we still need to better understand all the possible impacts of climate change…
Background report
Human Health Impacts in a Changing South African Climate
Climate change is projected to lead to warmer temperatures, especially in southern Africa, where the warming is predicted to be 2°C higher than the global increase. Given the high burden of disease already associated with environmental factors in this region,…
Futures thinking
Scenarios for the South African water sector in 2025
A paper reporting on a project to build knowledge about key drivers and uncertainties related to the future of the South African water sector.
Evidence review
A Practitioner’s Guide for Facilitating People Centred Adaptation: Participatory Adaptation Handbook
This book has been compiled by a group of practitioners from South Africa, Ethiopia and Germany, and draws on our collective experiences in supporting local communities in adapting to increasing climatic variability and change. The authors have written this book…
Background report
Seasonality of Cholera from 1974 to 2005: A Review of Global Patterns
The seasonality of cholera is described in various study areas throughout the world. However, no study examines how temporal cycles of the disease vary around the world or reviews its hypothesized causes. This paper reviews the literature on the seasonality…
Background report
Environmental Determinants of Cholera Outbreaks in Inland Africa: A Systematic Review of Main Transmission Foci and Propagation Routes
Cholera is generally regarded as the prototypical waterborne and environmental disease. In Africa, available studies are scarce, and the relevance of this disease paradigm is questionable. Cholera outbreaks have been repeatedly reported far from the coasts: from 2009 through 2011,…
Article
Hurricane Matthew: Haiti Needs Vaccines to Stop Deadly Cholera Spreading
9,000 people died in Haiti’s last cholera outbreak. We must act fast in disaster-affected hotspots to help prevent history repeating itself.
Briefing
Is the Health System Response Out of Sync with the Demands of the Islanders in the Indian Sundarbans?
Five years ago, a mid-summer nightmare named Aila crashed on the Sundarbans with murderous fury and wreaked destruction beyond repair. On May 25, 2009 the tropical cyclone hit the Sundarbans in India and Bangladesh with a wind speed of 110…
Briefing
Looking Beyond Prosthetics? Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Relief Efforts
As the rapid response briefing on “Including people with disabilities in emergency relief efforts” from IDS shows, emergencies have a disproportionate impact on those already marginalised by society, including people with disabilities and their families. For example, people with disabilities are…
Briefing
Myths and Realities in Disaster Situations
In this resource, the World Health Organization debunk common myths relating to disaster situations and suggest further reading.
Background report
Rapid Monitoring in Vaccination Campaigns during Emergencies: The post-Earthquake Campaign in Haiti
The earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 caused 1.5 million people to be displaced to temporary camps. The Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population and global immunization partners developed a plan to deliver vaccines to those residing in…
Background report
Ethical Considerations for Vaccination Programmes in Acute Humanitarian Emergencies
Humanitarian emergencies result in a breakdown of critical health-care services and often make vulnerable communities dependent on external agencies for care. In resource-constrained settings, this may occur against a backdrop of extreme poverty, malnutrition, insecurity, low literacy and poor infrastructure.…
Ethics in Epidemics, Emergencies and Disasters: Research, Surveillance and Patient Care: Training Manual
The training manual has two parts. Part 1 covers ethical issues in research and surveillance, such as conflicts that might arise between the common good and individual autonomy, ethics oversight and publication ethics. Part 2 covers patient care, including triage,…
Policy document
WHO’s six-year strategic plan to minimize the health impact of emergencies and disasters: 2014-2019
The purpose of this document is to outline how WHO plans to contribute to the reduction of death, illness and disability from emergencies while promoting the wellbeing and dignity of those affected.
Evidence review
Lessons Learned on Health Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change: Experiences Across Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Climate variability and change are exacerbating many current climate-sensitive health outcomes and have the potential to affect the ability of health system institutions and organizations to maintain or improve health burdens in the context of changing climate and development patterns.…
Tools
Assessing mental health and psychosocial needs and resources: toolkit for humanitarian settings
This document provides an approach and a toolkit to help those designing and conducting an assessment of mental health and psychosocial needs and resources in major humanitarian crises. These could include major natural and human-made disasters and complex emergencies (for…
Policy document
Setting, measuring and monitoring targets for disaster risk reduction
In many regions, disaster risk is continuing to increase, mostly because greater numbers of vulnerable people and assets are located in exposed areas. It is vital to start reversing these trends. Over the next 18 months, there will be negotiation…
Briefing
Focus on Nepal Earthquake and Earthquakes in Southern Asia
Nepal witnessed a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25th April and a 7.3 quake on 12th May, the worst natural disasters since 1900 in terms of number of dead, population affected and economic losses (A). The earthquakes killed more than 9,000 people…
Background report
The human cost of natural disasters: A global perspective
This report offers a 20-year review of disaster impacts across the world.
Evidence review
Determinants of the Lethality of Climate-Related Disasters in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM): A Cross-Country Analysis
Floods and storms are climate-related hazards posing high mortality risk to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nations. However risk factors for their lethality remain untested. We conducted an ecological study investigating risk factors for flood and storm lethality in CARICOM nations for…
Background report
Looking Upstream: Enhancers of Child Nutritional Status in post-Flood Rural Settings
Child undernutrition and flooding are highly prevalent public health issues in many developing countries, yet we have little understanding of preventive strategies for effective coping in these circumstances. Education has been recently highlighted as key to reduce the societal impacts…
Briefing
Disaster Data: A Balanced Perspective
In 2015, 346 natural disasters were recorded in the EM-DAT database. They claimed 22,773 lives, affected over 98 million others and caused economic damages of US$66.5 billion. The largest disaster of 2015 in terms of mortality was the earthquake in Nepal from…
Background report
What is the Human Cost of Weather-Related Disasters (1995-2015)?
This publication provides a sober and revealing analysis of weather-related disaster trends over a twenty year time-frame which coincides with a period which has seen the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties become an established high-…
Background report
What Is the Association between Absolute Child Poverty, Poor Governance, and Natural Disasters? A Global Comparison of Some of the Realities of Climate Change
The paper explores the degree to which exposure to natural disasters and poor governance(quality of governance) is associated with absolute child poverty in sixty-seven middle-and low-income countries. The data is representative for about 2.8 billion of the world´s population. Institutionalist…
Background report
Excess Mortality in Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons and Resident Populations in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (1998–2012) – Insights from Operational Data
Complex humanitarian emergencies are characterised by a break-down of health systems. All-cause mortality increases and non-violent excess deaths (predominantly due to infectious diseases) have been shown to outnumber violent deaths even in exceptionally brutal conflicts. However, affected populations are very…
Background report
Poverty & death: disaster mortality 1996-2015
A report on worldwide deaths from geophysical disasters.
Background report
Futures thinking
Tsunami disaster risk 2016: past impacts and projections
This report gives mathematical projections underlining that the threat to human life from tsunamis is increasing.
Background report
Stakeholders’ Perception on National Heatwave Plans and their Local Implementation in Belgium and The Netherlands
National heatwave plans are aimed at reducing the avoidable human health consequences due to heatwaves, by providing warnings as well as improving communication between relevant stakeholders. The objective of this study was to assess the perceptions of key stakeholders within…
Briefing
Sand and Dust Storms Fact Sheet
Sand and dust storms are a global environmental problem that affects the health and livelihoods of millions of people across the world. These storms, which have increased in frequency, intensity and geographical range in recent decades, have an immense impact…
Background report
Measuring the Way Forward in Haiti: Grounding Disaster Relief in the Legal Framework of Human Rights
This article provides results from an online survey of humanitarian workers and volunteers that was conducted in May and June 2010. The purpose of the survey was to understand how the humanitarian aid system adopts or incorporates human rights into…
Background report
Prioritizing Health: A Human Rights Analysis of Disaster, Vulnerability, and Urbanization in New Orleans and Port-au-Prince
Climate change prompts increased urbanization and vulnerability to natural hazards. Urbanization processes are relevant to a right to health analysis of natural hazards because they can exacerbate pre-disaster inequalities that create vulnerability. The 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince and the 2005…
Background report
Social Justice, Climate Change, and Dengue
Climate change should be viewed fundamentally as an issue of global justice. Understanding the complex interplay of climatic and socioeconomic trends is imperative to protect human health and lessen the burden of diseases such as dengue fever. Dengue fever is…
Evidence review
Child Centred Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation: Roles of Gender and Culture in Indonesia
The principle aim of this research was to investigate the roles of gender and religion in child-centred disaster risk reduction (DRR). Moreover, and through participatory research, informal conversations and direct advocacy, the project team hoped to build knowledge and awareness…
Background report
Anthropological Perspectives on Disasters and Disability: An Introduction
Natural disasters and disasters that directly derive from human actions, both evolving and sudden, trace the structural fault lines of the societies that they affect. Disaster outcomes disproportionately impact those with the least access to social and material resources: women…
Evidence review
Public Health Risk Assessment and Interventions – The Horn of Africa: Drought and Famine Crisis
The purpose of this public health risk assessment is to provide health professionals in United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations, international and local organizations, donor agencies and local authorities, who are currently working with populations affected by the emergency in the…
Evidence review
The Impact of Protracted Crises on Attitudes and Aspirations
This rapid review explores the impact of protracted crises on attitudes and aspirations. It provides a general overview of what is meant by the term protracted crisis, a broad reading of the influence of different types of protracted crisis on…
