Planning for Disaster Prone Area: Approaches, Strategies and Experience from Haiti

Transcription

1 Planning for Disaster Prone Area: Approaches, Strategies and Experience from Haiti Public Health Impact of Disasters: Equity, Accountability and Role of Media Speaker / Presenter: 1,2 Shafiu Mohammed (mohammed@uni-heidelberg.de) 1 Institute of Public Health, Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University-Germany 2 Dept. of Clinical Pharmacy & Pharm. Practice, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria 3 rd DAAD Funded Workshop Series Towards the 25 th Anniversary of the Developing Countries Postgraduate Courses (AST) Technische Universitaet, Dortmund - Germany 1

2 Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen!!! It is a pleasure to be part of this 3 rd DAAD Funded Workshop Series Towards the 25 th Anniversary of the Developing Countries Postgraduate Courses (AST). I would like to thank the conveners, especially DAAD; then Mustapha Haruna, Daniel Wandera, Johnson Kolubah, Barkat Ali and other MSc. Spring Class 2010/12 for the invitation to deliver this speech / presentation. Dortmund represents a unique meeting ground, bringing together international experts, practitioners, lecturers, students from selected universities in Germany and SPRING Alumni around the world to generate consensus on how to tackle some of the emerging challenges of contemporary development practice. I hope with optimism that, at the end of this workshop we would be able to achieve the cherished goal of this gathering. The world has certainly changed in all facets of life over the years and then we have witnessed dramatic transformations in health, disaster catastrophes and the media. There are new strategies, new approaches, new debates and novel challenges. But there is also a broader consensus around the importance of health, equity, accountability, financing and the role of media for disaster management, the central role of knowledge in the improvement of planning for disaster prone area, and the need to strengthen local, national and international strategies and approaches to disasters in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This is, I believe, a moment of opportunity that must be seized. I am not going to the definitions of terms but it is paramount to understand that, there is no clear cut definition of DISASTER. So, the central message of my presentation today is that how do we ensure equity and accountability in tackling public health impact of disasters in terms of financing and the role of the media. Remember the saying by Julio Frenk and I quote if we are to realize the opportunities offered by the conjunction of these unique circumstances, we need to mobilize the power of ideas in order to influence the ideas of power, that is to say, the ideas of those with the power to make decisions. 2

3 The concern for the way in which we confront hazards, threats, risks, and harms of disasters to our health with lack of equity, inappropriate accountability, inadequate financing and the role of the media is a central part of the societal experience. Every society develops some form of response to disasters. For most of history, this response had been limited to the affected individual, household, area, nation or region. Each year millions of people are affected by natural and manmade disasters around the world. During this 21 st century we have witnessed the explosive emergence of a differentiated set of disasters mostly in the Asian region (Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Australia, Japan, etc); Latin America (Chile, Brazil, etc) and now other parts of the world which became new (Haiti, US, Sub-saharan Africa, etc). Modernization, in fact, has been accompanied by the emergence of disaster prone areas around the world. The most obvious impact on the health of a population affected by a disaster is that of injuries and deaths that can be attributed directly to the disasters. Let s take a look at the injuries and the resulting fatalities associated with earthquakes which vary tremendously from one event to the other. Such events are linked to a number of factors i.e the magnitude of the earthquake; its proximity to a populated area; the soil type; buildingconstruction; time of day; population characteristics and behaviors. Majority of people believe that the primary role of public health in disasters is to control potential communicable disease outbreaks after a disaster. Of course, it is true but the actual occurrence of such outbreaks has been rare because the disease of concern needs to exist in the population prior to the disaster. One controversial issue is the outbreak of cholera in Haiti 2010 which emanated with mix political interests. Again, following the earthquake in Turkey in October 1999, a typhoid case fueled a great deal of commotion in the media and the public health community. The later are equity and accountability issues which the media should be able to control and not be a part in escalating matters. A good accurate reflection of how well a community can withstand the adverse health effects caused by a disaster may be found in the strength of the public health system in place prior to the disaster. Such good examples are presented in Australia (2010) and 3

4 Japan (2011). Both the Columbian earth-quake and the Honduran hurricane in 1998 produced conditions that could increase the vector flies which carry dengue. Surveillance in Columbia demonstrated no increase in either classic or hemorrhagic dengue fever but surveillance in Honduras demonstrated a bimodal increase in cases of dengue. These differences in the two countries are due to the strength of their public health systems. Apart from communicable diseases, acute illnesses, chronic illnesses and psychological effects have direct link to public health impact of disasters. The indirect public health impacts of disasters include: loss of primary health care, loss of normal living conditions, external infrastructure damage etc. In addition, disasters may increase the morbidity and mortality associated with chronic diseases and infectious diseases through the impact on the health care system. How are these ramifications best reduced? As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Possibly, the greatest factor which would lead to reduced morbidity and mortality as a result of disasters is a strong public health system. Like so many other aspects of the global agenda, interest in public health impact of disasters and the role of media has gone through cycles of activity depending on the dominant winds in the complex process of agenda settings but the equity and accountability aspects are beginning to gain attention but still treated with neglect. With regard to disaster relief efforts, since the 1970s, as already noted, it has been recognized that international disaster assistance has been plagued by inappropriate donations, non-essential pharmaceuticals and a diversity of medications. Despite the development of New Emergency Kit by IFRC-RCS-ICRC, UNICEF, WHO, MSF with the assistance of UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), on-the-ground problems persisted with unsorted shipments, unintelligible labeling, out-dated products (e.g Ache-Indonesia), and late arrivals (e.g Pakistan, Haiti, etc). Most of the problems emanate from lack of assessment of real needs by potential donors / relief organizations and unrealistic requests by disaster-affected communities. There is growing concern and recognition that donation funds can only be effective if they arrived in time and utilized appropriately. Analysis shows that, of the $4.6 billion (excluding debt relief pledges) pledged by donors for recovery 4

5 activities in 2010 and 2011, only $1.71 billion (37.2 percent) has been disbursed. Equity should be taken into consideration when it comes to funds disbursement and compensations to the affected individuals, areas or regions. In respect to accountability, The Good Enough Guide developed by the Emergency Capacity Building Project (ECB) offers a set of basic guidelines on how to be accountable to local people and measure program impact in emergency situations. It explicitly explained exchange of information (consultation) between an agency and the beneficiaries of its work in terms of; the need and aspirations of beneficiaries, entitlements of beneficiaries, feedback and reactions from beneficiaries to the agency etc. It always remains an enigma how things turn around the opposite way when it comes to actual implementation when the need arises. For example, the case of Haiti (which has been considered one of the biggest natural disasters in history) has put humanitarian agencies to a big challenging test. Aid experts stated that the 2010 January s earthquake requires agencies to think beyond mere numerical benchmarks. The failure to meet established minimum disaster relief standards created serious security, privacy, and dignity concerns. There came a point when the outgoing Haitian President said, it is time for the United Nations to transform its mission in Haiti, which needs engineers and bulldozers more than soldiers and tanks for its reconstruction effort. The role of the media is very important during the disaster state. They play a great role in informing people about the magnitude, affected areas, protective measures etc. It is known that extensive news coverage of a disaster greatly enhances the level of response to an emergency fund-rasing appeal (Massey, 1994). But at the same time, they are often more interested in what information sells or catches the attention of international audience the most which sometimes makes them tend to forget the local resources that could be useful. It was once said (Bennett and Daniel, 2002), in most instances, the selection of incidents for reporting by media depends critically on editorial perceptions of what kinds of event appeal to the public imagination. Unless equity is put into consideration first, if not such doings (bias) may lead to prejudice, 5

6 lack of recognition of the competence and achievements of local people, and inadequate consideration of important issues. All the aforementioned occurs due to overdependence on disaster myths which need a reversal of the bearing wheels. However, we must look not only at the pubic health impact of disasters, but also at its distribution, which gives equity a central place in planning approaches and strategies. In addition, we must also include other goals that are intrinsically valued towards relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction for sustainable development. Finally, we should expand our view with respect to accountability and the role which the media performs during the events of disasters. Let me conclude by reminding us that we need to become more resilient to threats and challenges of disaster situations by consistently producing new ideas and innovations that connect places and more people to survive, learn, adapt, create, and flourish as we work collectively to address our common risks and hazards. In this spirit, I would like to close by invoking the wise words of Margaret Mead, the distinguished famous anthropologist in the world, writer and speaker who stated the following: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has... Thank you. References 1 Kimberly I, Steven J R.: Public health impact of disasters. Autralian Journal of Emergency Management 2000; Noji E: The public health consequences of disaster. New York: Oxford University Press,

7 3 Noji E, Toole J. M.: The historical development of public health responses to disasters: Reports and Comments. Overseas Development Institute ECB: Impact measurement and accountability in emergencies: The Good Enough Guide. Oxfam, UK Frenk J: Dean Harvard School of Public Health. Massachusetts Reuters: Haiti s preval to UN: We need bulldozers not tanks. [ Accessed on 06/04/2010] 7 Bennett R, Daniel M.: Media reporting of third world disasters: The journalist s perspective. Disaster Prevention and Management 2002; 11: