WHO welcomes Sendai focus on health

GENEVA, April 29, 2015 - The World Health Organization has welcomed the fact that the new Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) puts health at the centre of disaster risk management.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO’s Assistant Director-General , Emergencies, said: “We are very supportive of the Sendai Framework. It recognizes how essential health is to building resilience and promotes an understanding that the health status of populations is a critical element of disaster risk management.”

Dr. Aylward outlined at last month’s World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, key elements of a new risk management framework which WHO will adopt later this year. It is expected to include a strong focus on risk assessment, early warnings, improved surveillance, preparedness, safe hospitals and health facilities, and response.

He said: “At least four of the seven targets in the Sendai Framework have a direct link to health focusing on reducing mortality and injuries, people’s well-being, early warning and promoting the safety of health facilities and hospitals.

“The framework places strong emphasis on the resilience of health systems and the integration of disaster risk management into health care provision at all levels. There is nothing more important in any disaster situation than ensuring access to basic health care services. This is reinforced by the reference to supporting implementation of the International Health Regulations.”

Dr. Aylward added: “The Ebola outbreak underlines the importance of having well-functioning surveillance systems and basic health care services which can respond to the needs of people both during normal times and during emergencies. The Sendai Framework makes this connection and supports our own efforts through the International Health Regulations to work with governments to build their capacities to an acceptable standard.”

With the addition this week of Nepal, following the devastating earthquake last Saturday, WHO is responding to an unprecedented six “Grade 3” priority crises affecting 70 million people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Syria and Iraq.

By WHO’s count, health is mentioned over 30 times in the Sendai Framework compared with just three references in the preceding Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), the global blueprint for disaster risk reduction which is being phased out this year.

Margareta Wahlström, the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, said; “The Sendai Framework is people-centered and multi-hazard. It marks a shift in emphasis from disaster management to a focus on disaster risk management, tackling the drivers which create new risk and increase the impact of natural hazards. Health is a very significant consideration in all disaster situations.

“The inclusion of a specific reference to biological hazards is a result of a strong push from Member States during the negotiation process, based on their experience of various outbreaks in recent years including Ebola, MERS and bird flu. Outbreaks have a broad societal and economic impact beyond the immediate health threat.”

Dr. Rick Brennan, Director of WHO’s Department of Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response, said that WHO’s new risk management framework will bring together perspectives from both the “outbreak world and the world of risk management making health much more central to disaster risk reduction.”

Dr. Brennan said: “Because of Sendai the health sector now has a better seat at the table than we had before. A lot of the activities that protect health in emergencies are not directly the domain of the health systems. This includes key drivers of risk such as building codes, land use, urbanization and environmental issues.

“We would contend that the most serious consequences from these are health consequences, deaths and injuries and long-term disability so there is a need for the health sector to be more pro-active on these issues. WHO is committed to supporting government efforts to integrate disaster risk reduction into the health sector.”