World Bank recommends adapting disaster risk management for public health emergencies in Asia-Pacific

As the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to plague the region, the World Bank suggested that Asia-Pacific nations identify the intersections between COVID-19 epidemiological models and risk models of natural hazards to enhance preparedness.

Countries in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean are already among the most vulnerable to disaster emergencies such as typhoons, storm surges, floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunami as it lies on the most active tropical cyclone basin on the planet and belongs to the Ring of Fire. When added to the scenario, public health emergencies such as epidemics and pandemics exacerbate the situation, leaving emerging and developing countries multi-handicapped as their vulnerable economy, healthcare, agriculture, and welfare can be easily overwhelmed by simultaneous crises. True enough, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu faced the devastating Tropical Cyclone Harold at the pandemic’s onset in March, while the Philippines suffered from three strong typhoons, namely Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses, from late October to early November 2020. Both instances caused the loss of lives, properties, and livelihood amid the already deadly pandemic.

While South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam have utilized lessons learned from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) to respond to COVID-19, there is a considerable gap of knowledge and resources among poorer nations. For one, they do not have well-established systems such as disaster surveillance and disease outbreak alert systems (e.g., Singapore’s Disaster Outbreak Response System Condition) and maintained medical and emergency stockpiling. A well-coordinated bureaucracy and a ready legal basis also matter primarily in declaring a state of emergency and enacting travel restrictions.

While efforts such as surveillance dashboards, contact-tracing, geotagging are put in place, they would need to be integrated with natural hazard data and risk information. According to the blog post, “this will help improve local- and community-level awareness and preparedness for disasters, encourage proactive emergency management (such as planning for a surge in medical and crisis management services), and updating local policies and guidelines for safe evacuation.” One such example is the Tsunami Evacuation Guide during COVID-19 disseminated by Indonesia.

Below are the five ideas proposed by the World Bank in adapting disaster risk management systems for public health emergencies:

1. Review disaster risk management legislation, strategies, and policies. Enhance inter-agency coordination and integration of public health considerations in disaster management legislation and policy (and vice versa), and adapt multi-hazard approaches in DRM strategies and plans.
2. Update national risk analyses and impact-based scenarios via a multi-hazard approach. Epidemiological forecast models could be incorporated into the decision support platforms to update multi-hazard risk modeling and identify areas vulnerable to concurrent risks – helping governments to target particularly vulnerable communities.
3. Build on existing early warning systems for natural hazards and integrate alerts for health-related emergencies. Develop road maps for open data Multi-hazard Early Warning System platforms that integrate health surveillance and natural hazard information, and strong inter-agency coordination between Ministries of Health and National Disaster Management Organizations.
4. Enhance community-based disaster preparedness programs to incorporate health-related emergencies. Community-based programs could incorporate preparedness for health-related emergencies – and help with case tracing, relief distribution, and public safety.
5. Adapt emergency management systems to incorporate health-related emergencies. Update contingency plans and evacuation procedures and ensure that supply chains for relief/recovery goods and services are not disrupted.

The COVID-19 pandemic taught governments worldwide invaluable lessons in strategically responding to and preventing an outbreak that must be institutionalized and cascaded to the communities to be sustainable. The people’s most potent defense is readiness and availability of necessary tools and resources. Until most of the world’s population has been vaccinated, there is a great need to properly enhance every nation’s ability to simultaneously deal with health and environmental hazards.
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Source: Adapting disaster risk management for public health emergencies in the Asia Pacific region (worldbank.org)