Why focus on making hospitals safe from disaster

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Why focus on making hospitals safe from disaster?

• Economics the cost of hospital failure during
  disasters is too high, particularly for
  developing countries
• Health and development We need disaster
  resilient hospitals, health facilities and health
  workers to save lives during disasters, and to
  reach the Millennium Development Goals
• Social and political demands Protecting
  hospitals and health facilities is a moral and
  political obligation

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The economic case the price of hospital failure
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The health case safe hospitals for public health
and development

• When hospitals do not function during disasters,
  lives are lost needlessly.
• Long-term impact of the loss of public health
  services on the Millennium Development Goals are
  even greater than the impact of delayed treatment
  of the injured
• Disasters can wipe out huge swathes of the health
  systems in developing countries or vulnerable
  regions, compromising the MDGs

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The social and political case much to lose, much
to gain

• Public confidence in all levels of the United
  States government dropped after perceived
  inadequacies of the authorities readiness and
  response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
  during which the country witnessed the recovery
  of 44 dead bodies from an abandoned and damaged
  hospital.
• Approval ratings for the President of Peru rose
  five points on public perception of effective
  government handling of the Peruvian earthquake of
  2007. The Peruvian Government indicated that
  hospital needs were covered one week after the
  quake

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Campaign Focus Safe Structures

• The cost of protection is negligible when
  included in the design stage. The later in the
  process, the more expensive it becomes
• Building codes, and investment in new hospitals
  and health facilities, are clear targets for
  advocacy

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Campaign Focus Functioning facilities

• Functional collapse, not structural damage, is
  the usual reason for hospitals being put out of
  service during disasters
• Protecting the non-structural contents of most
  hospitals will cost only around 1 of the cost of
  the whole facility, while protecting up to 90 of
  its value

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Campaign focus Prepared staff

• Hospital failure and health system disruption
  during disasters is just as often due to system
  overload and a lack of contingency planning than
  physical failure
• Contingency planning and staff training is just
  as important as physical protection, and costs
  less

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What governments and legislators can do

• Take a leadership position make this a national
  priority
• Create a framework in which all sectors and
  government levels can help make hospitals and
  health facilities resistant to natural hazards
• Draft, pass and enforce legislation on building
  codes to ensure safe hospitals

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What local governments can do

• Take stock of existing hospitals, health
  facilities and number of employed health workers
  in their own territory
• Assess the current level of preparedness
  resilience of health infrastructure, facilities,
  as well as staff capacity
• Take the necessary actions at the local level to
  increase such level of capacity, raise awareness
  and promote DRR investment at the local level

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What universities, schools and experts can do

• Develop courses on hospital safety for university
  and professional curricula
• Act as repositories of specialized expertise
• Publish articles for scientific and technical
  publications and journals
• Contribute to the development and periodic review
  of national building standards

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Key Messages

• Disasters are a health and development issue
• Protecting critical health facilities from
  disasters is not just possible, but cost
  effective
• Health workers are crucial agents of disaster
  risk reduction
• The most expensive hospital is the one that
  fails!

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• For more information please visit
• http//www.safehospitals.info
• Join the Health and Disaster Risk Reduction
  Network for this Campaign at
• http//groups.preventionweb.net