World Health Day 2009
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) is today celebrating World Health Day by focusing attention on the large numbers of lives that can be saved during earthquakes, floods, conflicts and other emergencies through better design and construction of health facilities, and by better preparing and training of health staff.
Since 1950, WHO has been celebrating 7th April as the anniversary of its foundation. Designating this day ‘World Health Day’, WHO uses the day to create awareness of a specific health theme which is a priority area of concern for them. Few will have forgotten the deadly earthquake in the Sichuan province of China last year, which killed almost 90,000 people and destroyed more than 11,000 health care facilities. It is partly for this reason that World Health Day 2009 is being launched today in Beijing, and carries the slogan ‘Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies’.
The ‘Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies’ campaign highlights the importance of health infrastructure investment in improving the resilience and readiness of health facilities and health workers in the face of emergencies, be they conflicts or natural disasters. “With our world threatened by the harmful effects of climate change, more frequent extreme weather events and armed conflicts, it is crucial that we all do more to ensure that health care is available at all times to our citizens, before, during, or after a disaster,” said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.
As we have seen all too often, already fragile health systems are frequently the first casualties of emergencies, leading to a lack of facilities to treat survivors, and the squandering of large investments in health facility construction and equipment. However, with relatively inexpensive investments in infrastructure, WHO believes it is possible to markedly improve the preparedness and response of many countries to emergencies. WHO has therefore published a list of six steps that governments and public health authorities should consider taking. These include:
- assess the safety of hospitals;
- protect and train health workers for emergencies;
- plan for emergency response;
- design and build resilient hospitals;
- adopt national policies and programmes for safe hospitals; and
- protect equipment, medicines and supplies.
It is also crucial that in areas affected by conflicts, hospitals and clinics should be allowed to function by all parties in line with international humanitarian law.
Starting today, events around the world will highlight successes, and build momentum for widespread emergency preparedness. After all, as succinctly put by WHO Assistant Director-General, Dr Eric Laroche, “The most expensive health facility is the one that fails, both in human and financial terms.”
For more information visit WHO’s official brochure for World Health Day 2009 at http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2009/whd2009_brochure_en.pdf.