In 1988, the Centre for Research on ...ss="attribute-to-highlight medbox">the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) launched the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). EM-DAT was created with the initial support of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Belgian Government.
The main objective of the database is to serve the purposes of humanitarian action at national and international levels. The initiative aims to rationalise decision making for disaster preparedness, as well as provide an objective base for vulnerability assessment and priority setting.
EM-DAT contains essential core data on the occurrence and effects of over 22,000 mass disasters in the world from 1900 to the present day. The database is compiled from various sources, including UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, insurance companies, research institutes and press agencies.
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he statistics in this report are from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) maintained by the Centre f...or Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) which records disasters which have killed ten or more people; affected 100 or more people; resulted in a declared state of emergency; or a call for international assistance.
In the period 2000 to 2019, there were 7,348 major recorded disaster events claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people (many on more than one occasion) resulting in approximately US$2.97 trillion in global economic losses.
This is a sharp increase over the previous twenty years. Between 1980 and 1999, 4,212 disasters were linked to natural hazards worldwide claiming approximately 1.19 million lives and affecting 3.25 billion people resulting in approximately US$1.63 trillion in economic losses.
Much of the difference is explained by a rise in climate-related disasters including extreme weather events: from 3,656 climate-related events (1980-1999) to 6,681 climate-related disasters in the period 2000-2019.
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Accessing disaster information can be a time consuming and laborious task. Not only is data scattered but frequently identification of the ...ass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">disaster can be confusing in countries with many disaster events. To address both of these issues, Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) proposed a globally common Unique ID code for disasters. This idea was shared and promoted by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) of the University of Louvain in Brussels (Belgium), OCHA/ReliefWeb, OCHA/FSCC, ISDR, UNDP, WMO, IFRC, OFDA-USAID, FAO, La Red and the World Bank and was jointly launched as a new initiative "GLIDE".
The GLIDE database is easily searchable by many criteria. Information in the GLIDE database may be presented in many forms, including tabular and graphic forms.
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Asia remained the world’s most disaster-hit region from weather, climate and water-related hazards in 2023. Floods and storms caused the highest ...number of reported casualties and economic losses, whilst the impact of heatwaves became more severe, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The State of the Climate in Asia 2023 report highlighted the accelerating rate of key climate change indicators such as surface temperature, glacier retreat and sea level rise, which will have major repercussions for societies, economies and ecosystems in the region.
In 2023, sea-surface temperatures in the north-west Pacific Ocean were the highest on record. Even the Arctic Ocean suffered a marine heatwave.
Asia is warming faster than the global average. The warming trend has nearly doubled since the 1961–1990 period.
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English Analysis on World and 26 other countries about Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Drought, Epidemic and more; published on 26 Oct 2021 by WMO
The guidance aspires
• To emphasize the 'need' to mainstream disaster risk reduction (DRR) in th...e health sector initiatives.
• To identify key approaches for mainstreaming DRR in the health sector in Myanmar, particularly in rural areas, based on the good practices, innovative approaches and lessons learned of Government, UN agencies, NGOs and others involved in the Cyclone Nargis recovery.
• Identify key ‘vulnerabilities and opportunities’ for creating a ‘safer health system’ in Myanmar.
No publication year indicated.
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South Africa reported it fist case of COVID-19 on 5 March 2020. While the first cases were imported, local transmission has led to a rapid increase... in the number of cases. As of 21 April 2020, more than 3,400 cases and 58 deaths had been confirmed. On 15 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster, and the government has since taken several measures to curb the spread of the virus, including closing borders, implementing strict social distancing measures and a 35-day nation-wide lockdown. These measures, along with the global economic shock caused by the pandemic, are expected to generate rising needs requiring an immediate and urgent response. Although South Africa is considered an upper-middle-income country, the amount of disparities—social, economic, and gender—make the country particularly vulnerable during this emergency.
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Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2017
The report looks at the extent and impact of natural disasters...an> across the region and how these intersect with poverty, inequality and the effects of violent conflict. But it also shows how scientific and other advances have increased the potential for building disaster resilience and ensuring that even in the most extreme circumstances people can survive disaster impacts and rebuild their communities and livelihoods.
Disaster resilience is a key element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals are based on the premise of reaching absolutely everyone. When the drought is assessed, when the flood warnings are broadcast, when the tsunami siren sounds, the aim is to ‘leave no one behind’.
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This is the sixth of our 11-paper supplement entitled “Community Health Workers at the Dawn of... New Era”. Expectations of community health workers (CHWs) have expanded in recent years to encompass a wider array
of services to numerous subpopulations, engage communities to collaborate with and to assist health systems in responding to complex and sometimes intensive threats. In this paper, we explore a set of key considerations for training of CHWs in response to their enhanced and changing roles and provide actionable recommendations based on
current evidence and case examples for health systems leaders and other stakeholders to utilize.
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The report is based on comprehensive information collected at representative sample health facilities all over the country by well-organized and tr...ained teams during May and August 2015. This is a continuation of 2014 Assessment activities and findings also reflect comparison between two consecutive years.
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This reference manual provides in-depth knowledge on the techniques, methodologies and best practices for using geospatial information in support <...span class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">of decision making for disaster risk management for specific hazards
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The guide book provides a set of tools and methods to assess existing structures and capacities of national, district and local institutions with r...esponsibilities for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in order to improve their effectiveness and the integration of DRM concerns into development planning, with particular reference to disaster-prone areas, vulnerable sectors and population groups.
The strategic use of the Guide is expected to enhance understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing existing DRM institutional structures and their implications for on-going institutional change processes. It will also highlight the complex institutional linkages among various actors and sectors at different levels.
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This guideline consists of two main parts:
i.) Guidelines for Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies on how to start up and engage with ...other stakeholders in country in rolling out disaster risk reduction (DRR) education and awareness activities for children - not only in school, but also in the community;
ii.) Games and activities to engage children with key lessons and messages to carry away. With a focus on Southeast Asia, cases from Viet Nam and Indonesia are highlighted.
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This paper presents lessons learned from previous flood responses in developing countries, based on a structured review of the literature. It is in...tended for people working in relief and recovery operations who have to decide if, when and how to intervene after a flood.
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The greatest risk to persons engaging in international medical emergency response is poor preparation.
The In Control handbook hopes to provide a remedy.
At ... medbox">the time of writing, we are living through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a health emergency that disregards physical borders, brings into focus social inequalities and affects people on every continent. This shared challenge requires unprecedented measures and the collaboration of the brightest minds to support global health protection through this crisis and beyond. Healthcare infrastructures have to be strengthened, public health capacities and processes upgraded, medical countermeasures and vaccinations found and psychosocial side-effects treated.
Solidarity is the normative order of the day and the human species has to collaborate to face this invisible threat. Hiding and living in fear is not an option in this interconnected world. We have both a responsibility and an opportunity to make substantial contributions to a safer, healthier and more sustainable future for us all.
The existence of this handbook is an impressive example of solidarity. Over 50 authors from more than 15 institutes and organisations have come together voluntarily within a very short time to make their expertise available and enable cross-sectoral thinking. Knowledge is bundled, resources are combined, information gaps are filled. The In Control handbook is not a theoretical treatise of possible dangers, but a collection of subject-matter expertise, written by experts and practitioners who have shaped health topics over the past 20 years in the most diverse corners of the world.
The Centre for International Health Protection at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is collaborating with its partners and investing heavily in the build-up of operational know-how and capacity to support health crisis response abroad. This is done by preparing and enabling professionals to deploy safely across the world to assist those in need. In Control addresses the multi-faceted challenges of an international deployment. Readers will find not only technical medical information, but also insights into, for example, the fragility of our environment, the cultural differences that influence risk communication or the dilemmas arising from social distancing. Legal principles are highlighted, along with ethical guidance to ensure that our actions and decisions correspond to the highest moral standards.
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Climate change, increasing population densities, and intensified globalisation in trade, travel and migration are among the most important factors shaping the 21st century. Each impacts upon populat...ion health and the risk of infectious disease, particularly those originating at the human-animal-environmental interface. The recognition that many risk drivers of infectious disease fall outside of the typical domain of the health sector creates the challenge of identifying and pursuing priorities for cross-sectoral action aimed at strengthening global health security. In response, the One Health concept has emerged, as have related initiatives addressing Planetary Health and Biodiversity and Human Health. From a public health perspective and operationally speaking, the One Health approach offers great potential, emphasising as it does cooperation and coordination between multiple sectors. Yet despite having been a focal point for discussion for over a decade, numerous challenges facing the implementation of One Health preparedness strategies remain. While some are technical, related to the requirement for innovative early warning systems or new vaccines, for example, others are institutional and cultural in nature, given the transdisciplinary nature of the topic. There have thus been calls to address One Health from multiple perspectives, from ecology to the social sciences. In order to further explore this issue and to identify priority areas for action for strengthening One Health preparedness in Europe, ECDC convened an expert consultation on 11–12 December 2017.
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The brief concludes that sustaining the continuity of EHS requires policies that ensure a whole-society and systems strengthening approach. This in...volves increased health care investment, community engagement, disease control regulations, and multisector approaches to improve resilience, EHS quality, and equity.
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Handbook on pregnancy, childbirth, childhood illnesses, child development and the care of children. The... handbook, Facts for Life, provides vital messages and information for mothers, fathers, other family members and caregivers and communities to use in changing behaviours and practices that can save and protect the lives of children and help them grow and develop to their full potential.
This version of Facts for Life builds on the three previous editions, which have been helping families and communities around the world since 1989. Newborn Health has been added to the Safe Motherhood chapter, giving attention to child survival from the first stage of life. A new chapter, Child Protection, has been included, focusing attention on the actions needed to ensure children grow up in protective environments.
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Robust clinical research capacity in low- and middle-income countries is key to stemming the spread of epidemics, according to a new report from ...pan class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">the International Vaccines Task Force (IVTF). The report lays out how to develop the political support, financing and coordination required to build this capacity as a crucial component of global epidemic preparedness. The IVTF was convened by the World Bank Group (WBG) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) in October 2017.
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Surge in climate change-related disasters poses growing threat to food security