Learning from Disaster Response and Public Health Emergencies : The Cases of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan
This study analyzes responses to past natural disasters in four countries in South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan. Of 178 hazardous events reported in the four countries during the 10 years covered by this study (2009-19), 126 were...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/628231611120495553/Learning-from-Disaster-Response-and-Public-Health-Emergencies-The-Cases-of-Bangladesh-Bhutan-Nepal-and-Pakistan http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35061 |
| Summary: | This study analyzes responses to past
natural disasters in four countries in South Asia -
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan. Of 178 hazardous
events reported in the four countries during the 10 years
covered by this study (2009-19), 126 were classified as
disasters and used for the in-depth analysis. The analysis
revealed that countries have multi-hazard preparedness and
response capacities in place, albeit to varying degrees, in
areas such as early warning and surveillance systems,
emergency operations centers, and whole-of-society
approaches to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
Notwithstanding, the analysis also revealed gaps across each
country in their capacity to detect, prepare for, respond
to, and recover from hazard-induced disasters, including
public health emergencies. To address these gaps, the paper
offers recommendations for improving capacities and
resilience to disasters. Recent infectious disease
outbreaks, including the ongoing global Coronavirus 2019
(COVID-19) pandemic, have demonstrated the critical
importance of comprehensive disaster risk management
systems, which include resilient health systems, in reducing
exposure and vulnerabilities to hazards, with an overarching
aim of safeguarding national and global health security. To
ensure sustainability, this calls for, amongst others, a
holistic approach to resilience that incorporates public
health, disaster risk, and climate change considerations;
the integration of community-based disaster risk reduction
programs into routine public health service delivery
functions; an enhanced and expanded focus on improving
multi-hazard preparedness; and the prioritization and
institutionalization of after action reviews, as a means of
ensuring that corrective actions from past public health
events are properly considered. |
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