PAHO - Pan American Health Organization

Published purpose

November 2013 – The Americas region, which includes Latin America and the Caribbean, is prone to natural disasters and other humanitarian crises, such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake and subsequent cholera epidemic. The frequency and impact of natural disasters in the Americas region has worsened over time. While some member states of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) region have extremely strong disaster preparedness, risk reduction, and response capacities, other member states have much weaker ability to plan for, mitigate, and respond to humanitarian crises. With DFATD support, PAHO aims to prevent death, illness and disability resulting from natural disasters and other humanitarian crises by strengthening the ability of national health ministries and regional health sectors to respond on a national scale in a more effective and timely way. This project aims to better equip national health experts responding to disasters and other humanitarian crises by providing them with training and by developing policies and guidelines to guide their work. The project also seeks to create an improved roster of health experts that can be deployed to respond immediately in the aftermath of a disaster or other humanitarian crisis.