2.1. Planning
Along with other sectors, the health sector must have a disaster risk reduction policy with specific short-, medium- and long-term objectives and strategies to achieve the objectives efficiently and effectively, with an overall description of program activities that will be carried out. The essential public health functions (EPHF) are the fundamental set of actions that should be performed in order to achieve public health’s central objective: improving the health of populations.
The Pan American Health Organization defined the eleven Essential Public Health Functions necessary to strengthen public health practice, and developed a methodology that allows countries to evaluate their public health capacity.
Through this methodology, Health Ministries and/or Secretariats can identify the critical actions needed to improve the public health infrastructure, management mechanisms, and resources necessary for the national health authorities to optimally perform its duties