Launching of the "Hospitals Safe from Disasters" Campaign

The United Nations is teaming up with the World Health Organization and the World Bank to begin the global campaign, “Hospitals Safe from Disasters.” On January 25, 2008, the campaign was launched in Davos, Switzerland. The three main objectives of the program are:

• To better protect the lives of patients, the health staff and the public by

reinforcing the structural resilience of health facilities;

• To ensure that health facilities and services continue to function in the aftermath

of disasters; and

• To better prepare and train health workers on preparedness plans that will keep

health systems operational when disasters strike.

“The cost of making hospitals safe is tiny,” says Salvano Briceño, director for the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR). “The most expensive hospital is the one that fails.” The campaign is expected to last for two years.

To learn more:

Read the Press Release from the UN/ISDR

http://www.unisdr.org/eng/media-room/press-release/2008/pr-2000-02-hospitals-safe-from-disaster-eng.pdf

Go to the UN/ISDR website

http://www.unisdr.org/