Disaster risk management for health: communicable diseases

Disaster Risk Management for Health Fact Sheets:

This fact sheet about communicable diseases in disaster risk reduction for health is divided into four sections: i) Key points ii) Why is this important? iii) What are the health risks? iv) Risk management considerations.

Communicable diseases key points:
-Risks of communicable disease outbreaks arising from natural disasters are fre-quently over- estimated;
-Outbreak potential is related primarily to population displacement and the conse-quent living conditions;
-Outbreaks are less frequent in disaster-affected populations than those affected by conflict;
-Communicable diseases have potential to cause society-wide emergencies such as influenza pandemics;
-The main communicable disease causes of morbidity and mortality in disasters are outlined;
-High vaccine coverage reduces the inci-dence of vaccine preventable diseases;
-Provision of safe drinking water is the most important preventive measure;
-Rapid detection of cases of epidemic-prone diseases is essential to ensure rapid control;
-Management of disease vectors in en-demic areas is required to reduce vector.