3. Hazards and their impact on health
The PAHO/WHO publication Health in the Americas (2007 edition, page 150) presents a troubling estimate: approximately 73% of the population and 67% of the health centers and hospitals in 18 countries of the Americas are in high-risk areas.
Preliminary Summary of Disaster Impact in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2010
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Natural disasters tend to cause severe damage to health facilities and water supply and sewerage systems, and have direct health effects on the populations that depend on these services. In the case of structurally unsafe hospitals and health centers, natural disasters endanger the lives of their occupants and limit the capacity of these institutions to serve victims. The earthquake in Haiti alone caused 222,570 fatalities, and an entire third of this Caribbean country’s population was affected by the disaster. In fact, the impact went even further, since a large part of the infrastructure of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, was destroyed, so that the damage caused by the disaster totaled 123% of the previous year’s GDP.
As mentioned above, in addition to a greater burden on health services in the wake of disaster, societies usually experience an interruption in their health services. Disasters can hold back development in affected countries and jeopardize achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, thus helping to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.