2. Creating preparedness and response plans
General steps
Disaster preparedness is an ongoing multisectoral activity. It requires coordination and organization by different departments of the government to facilitate assessment of a country’s disaster risk, adoption of standards and regulations, and action to ensure that resources can be mobilized rapidly in disaster situations.
To be able to respond appropriately, the health sector (headed by the Ministry of Health as the sector’s regulatory institution) must be prepared. This means developing preparedness and response plans that are a part of intersectoral plans and are integrated at the national and territorial levels.
In developing these plans, some basic elements must be present to ensure that they will function. They include:
• A good understanding of the potential hazards facing the country, region, or locality, and of the populations’ vulnerability to natural hazards, to potential risks associated with industrial or technological accidents, and to possible emergencies due to epidemics or pandemics.
• Knowledge of the cycle of disaster management, including the phases prior to and subsequent to the central event: risk mitigation and preparedness (the risk reduction phase that precedes the disaster) and relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction (the recovery phase following the event).
• An entity within the Ministry of Health and at the regional level, and prevention and mitigation policy or programwhich is part of the national and sectoral development plans.
• Legislation that provides a legal framework for the implementation of policies and strategies.
• Specific financing for matters relating to risk management and disaster response.
