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Annual Report Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief 2012

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World
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PAHO
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%he year 2012 marks the final year of PED’s 2008-2012 Strategic Plan for a Secure and Disaster-resilient Health Sector in the Americas. Four major strategic lines of action were included in this plan:

• Improving disaster preparedness capacity in the health sector

• Protecting health services from the risk of disasters

• Supporting countries to respond to disaster events in the health sector

• Forging stronger partnerships with national, regional and global partners

Over the last five years, member countries along with PAHO’s technical support have been successful in making disaster management a priority and have achieved milestones that set an example for countries around the world. Most of the Region’s ministries of health now have offices or technical units dedicated to disaster preparedness, 31 countries and territories have applied the Hospital Safety Index and countries joined together to develop the innovative, Health Sector Self-Assessment Tool to assess key aspects of national disaster risk management.
During times of “peace” or when emergency strikes, PED has been an unwavering partner and continues to work side by side with ministries of health in their efforts to build capacity and to protect the health of their communities.
This report details activities implemented over the last year in the areas of disaster preparedness, emergency response and risk reduction. A few of the highlights include:

• The creation of a Central American Plan for Comprehensive Risk Management of Public Health Disasters and Emergencies with PAHO’s support;

• The influence of the Safe Hospital Initiative in the Region and around the world;

• The passage of a PAHO resolution on the coordination of humanitarian assistance;

• Advances on the use of social media and disaster.

Finally, we would like to thank our donors for allowing us to provide this technical assistance, and we look forward to the next five years of success in disaster management in the Americas.