Refugee health care: Similar but different?

The present review sets out to identify differences between refugees and other more stable communities living in less developed countries: demographic, mortality, morbidity, nutritional and selected epidemiological data are discussed. Although generalizations are difficult because of the variability of refugees and their differing circumstances, the health problems and diseases do not appear to differ qualitatively, although they may be quantitatively more severe.
The areas of particular concern lie not so much with the problems but with approaches to their solutions: the need to respond rapidly and appropriately to emergencies, the importance of attending to the priorities of nutrition, shelter, sanitation and water; and the necessity of providing services which are sufficiently flexible and sensitive to the changing needs of the refugees as they move from the acute emergency to the long-term settlements.
The review highlights certain areas where insufficient information is currently available, notably mental illness and the long-term issues of health and development, and outlines the implications of the conclusions for policy makers, with particular reference to training and research.     

Flooding: what is the impact on pregnancy and child health?

Floods are the most common type of natural disaster in both developed and developing countries and have led to extensive morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Worldwide, over the past 30 years, flooding has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people and affected more than 2.8 billion others. The impact of flooding on health varies among populations and depends primarily on vulnerability and the kind of event experienced. It severely disrupts livelihoods and has a significant impact on the health of pregnant women and children. In addition, it may exacerbate a range of negative psychological and physiological child and reproductive health outcomes. Awareness‐raising, education, and the issuing of warnings appear to be key initiatives to mitigate or prevent flood morbidity and mortality, especially among people living in low‐ and middle‐income countries. Agencies responding to emergencies also need to be more cognisant of the dangers, specifically those engaged in healthcare, nutrition, and water safety programmes.     

Does need matter? Needs assessments and decision‐making among major humanitarian health agencies

Disasters of physical origin, including earthquakes, floods, landslides, tidal waves, tropical storms, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, have affected millions of people globally over the past 100 years. Proportionately, there is far greater likelihood of being affected by such disasters in low‐income countries than in high‐income countries. Furthermore, low‐income countries are in need of international assistance following disasters more often than high‐income countries. The funding of international humanitarian assistance has increased from USD 12.9 billion in 2006 to an estimated USD 16.7 billion in 2010. The majority of this funding is channelled through humanitarian agencies and is supposed to be distributed based on the need of those affected, as assessed using needs assessments. Such needs assessments may be used to inform decisions internally, to influence others, to justify response decisions, and to obtain funding. Little is known about the quality of needs assessments in practical applications. Consequently, this paper reports on and analyses the views of operational decision‐makers in major health‐related humanitarian agencies on needs assessments.     

Brief Analysis of the Risk of Urban Water Disaster

１ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅｃｉｔｙ，ｗｈｉｃｈｉｓａｐｌａｃｅｗｉｔｈｍｏｓｔｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ，ａｃｔｓａｓｔｈｅｐｏｌｉｔｉｃａｌ，ｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃａｎｄｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌｃｅｎ－ｔｅｒ．Ｏｎｃｅｈｉｔｂｙｗａｔｅｒｄｉｓａｓｔｅｒ，ｔｈｅｃｉｔｙｗｉｌｌｃａｕｓｅｈｅａｖｙｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃｌｏｓｓ．Ｔｈｅｒｅｆｏｒｅ，ｉｔ＇ｓｖｅｒｙｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｔｏｕｎｄｅｒｓｔａｎｄｂｅｔｔｅｒｔｈｅｕｒｂａｎｗａｔｅｒｄｉｓａｓｔｅｒａｎｄｓｔｒｅｎｇｔｈｅｎｔｈｅｓｅｎｓｅｏｆｉｔｓｄａ…     

Message of Congratulation

Ｍｒ．Ｃｈａｉｒｍａｎ，Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｅｓ，ＰｌｅａｓｅｄｔｏｌｅａｒｎｔｈａｔｔｈｅＩｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌＷｏｒｋｓｈｏｐｏｎＮａｔｕｒａｌＤｉｓａｓｔｅｒＭａｎａｇｅｍｅｎｔｉｓｂｅｉｎｇｈｅｌｄｉｎＢｅｉｊｉｎｇ．Ｉｗｏｕｌｄｌｉｋｅｔｏｅｘｔｅｎｄｍｙｗａｒｍｃｏｎｇｒａｔｕｌａｔｉｏｎｓ．Ｃｈｉｎａｉｓａｃｏｕｎｔｒｙｔｈａｔｓｕｆｆｅｒｓｆｒｏｍｃｏｍｐａｒａｔｉｖｅｌｙｍｏｒｅｎａｔｕｒａｌｄｉｓａｓｔｅｒｓ．ＴｈｅＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＧｏｖｅｒｎ－ｍｅｎｔａｔｔａｃｈｅｓｇｒｅａｔ…     

The Origin of Downstream Drain age of the Yellow River

Ｔｈｅｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｃｅｏｆｗａｔｅｒｈａｓｂｅｅｎｒｅｃｏｇｎｉｚｅｄａｓ＂ｔｈｅｓｏｕｒｃｅｏｆｌｉｆｅ＂，＂ｔｈｅｌｉｆｅｂｌｏｏｄｏｆｃｒｅａｔｕｒｅｓ＂ａｎｄ＂ｔｈｅｍｏｔｈｅｒｏｆｈｕｍａｎｃｉｖｉｌｉｚａｔｉｏｎ＂．Ｓｉｎｃｅａｎｃｉ...     

The Theory and Method on Assessment of Economic Loss of Disaster

1TkeDefinitionandCIassificationofDisasterLossIngeneral,thenaturaldisasterlossisadeclinemeasurethatcausedbynaturaldisasterendan-geredhumanbeingsurvivalanddevelopment.Itcanbedividedintotwoparts-economiclossandnon-economicloss,accordingtodifferentobjectofdestroy.Onthecharacteristicoflossofnaturaldisaster(fromhereon,thelossreferstoeconomiclossifnotbenoted),aswellastheneedsofassessment,thelosscanbeclassifiedasinFig-l.(1)Thelossofbusinessfirmassetsandhouseholdpropertiesarethevaluereductionofasset…     

The Death of Humanitarianism?: An Anatomy of the Attack

Over recent years, the humanitarian community has been under increasing scrutiny and attracted harsh criticism. This mounting critique of humanitarianism has shifted from being concerned primarily with the poor functioning of the humanitarian system to one targeted on basic humanitarian values. This paper is concerned to understand the factors driving the attack on humanitarian values. It identifies four apparently disparate groups who are interested in attacking these values: the anti-imperialists, the realpolitikers, the developmentalists and the neo-peaceniks. It concludes that unless humanitarian actors are aware of these diverse threats to their values and operations, they risk being co-opted or marginalised.     

Summary Account of Natural Disaster Situationsfor the First Quarter of 1997

Duringthistime,snowdisaster,earthquake,drought,stormandfloodsmainlyoccurredinChina.Thedisasterscausedthedeathof68personsandinjuriesof594.Asmanyas246,oooroomscolIapsed.Damagesdidto6.2millionhaofcrops.Thedirecteconomiclossestotalled1.73billionyuanRMB.Xinjiang,Yunnan,Henan,ChongqingandGansuareamongtheseprovinceswithgreatlosses.Thedisasterssharedthefollowingfeatures:(1)variouskindsofnaturaldisasters,inparticularearthquakeandsnowdisasters;(2)theconcentrationofdisasteraffectedregion.Earthquakem…     

Strategic Orientation and Basic Exploration Thinking of the Western Development of China

1 Western development strategy is nationwide. The Western development strategy is initiated from the general goal, the overall arrangement and the general strategic deployment of the nation's development. The followings are included: (1) the initiative factors of the western development strategy are: a tremendous economic growth in the eastern and coastal area of China; an unprecedented development of the national abilities on investment and independent growth; the widening gap between the ea…     

A Brief Introduction of Natural Disasters in the First Half of Year 1998

Ｔｈｅｃｏｕｎｔｒｙｈａｄｓｕｆｅｒｅｄｆｒｅｑｕｅｎｔｎａｔｕｒａｌｄｉｓａｓｔｅｒｓｉｎｔｈｅｆｉｒｓｔｈａｌｆｏｆｙｅａｒ１９９８，ｉｎｃｌｕｄｉｎｇｓｎｏｗｄｉｓａｓｔｅｒｓ，ｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅｓ，ｈａｉｌｓｔｏｒｍｄｉｓａｓｔｅｒｓ，ｓａ...     

Local perception of infrequent,extreme upland flash flooding: prisoners of experience?

The United Kingdom has experienced several exceptional summer flash floods in recent years and there is growing concern about the frequency of such events and the preparedness of the population. This paper uses a case study of the upper Ryedale flash flood (2005) and questionnaire and interview data to assess local perceptions of upland flash flooding. Experience of a major flash flood may not be associated with increased flood risk perception. Despite local residents’ awareness of a trend towards wetter summers and more frequent heavy rainfall, the poor maintenance of rivers was more frequently thought to be a more significant factor influencing local flood risk than climate change. Such findings have important implications for the potential success of contemporary national flood policies, which have put greater emphasis on public responsibility for responding to flooding. This study recommends, therefore, the use of fresh participatory approaches to redistribute and raise awareness of locally‐held flood knowledge.     

The Brief Introduction to the Center of Disaster Reduction,Chinese Academy of Sciences

TheCenterofDisasterReduction,ChineseAcademyofSciencesisestablishedonSeptember14,1995.Itisanunionofoverfortyinstituteswhichareengagedinthestudyfordisasterreduction.Theaimsare:bymakingfulluseoftheadvantagesofdisasterreductioninCASsuchasmultiplesbjects,richadvdncedtechnologyandstrongcomprehensiveresearchtheory,activelypartakingintheplanofscientificfieldfordisasterreductionandtheformulationoffcorrespondingpriorityproject;assistingCNCIDNDRandsomenationaldepartmentstocarryoutandformulatenatio…     

The Disaster Reduction Plan of the People's Republic of China (1998～2010)

Ⅰ．ＧｅｎｅｒａｌＳｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎｏｆＮａｔｕｒａｌＤｉｓａｓｔｅｒａｎｄＤｉｓａｓｔｅｒＲｅｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ１．ＧｅｎｅｒａｌＳｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎｏｆＮａｔｕｒａｌＤｉｓａｓｔｅｒａ．ＴｈｅｎａｔｕｒａｌｄｉｓａｓｔｅｒｓｉｎＣｈｉｎａａｒｅｃｈａｒ...     

A Case Study of Tianjin on the Recovery and Reconstruction of Large Cities after Earthquake

Forthepast20years,strongearthquakeshitthemainlandofourcountryoneafteranother,affectingsomelarge-and-mediumscalecities.WhatneedsspecialmentionisthebigearthquakeinTangshancity,whichcausedseveredamagetoTangshan,Tianjinandotherneighbouringcities.Therecoveryandreconstructionofthesecitieshavebeenacommonandprominentissue.NowIwilltakeanexampleoftheurbanareaofTianjinrnunicipalitytohaveacasestudyonhowtostartrecoveryworkwithrespecttoinfrastructureandbuildingcomplexityaftertheearthquakeinTangshanin1976,…     

The Annual Assessment of Wind Energy

Itisbecomingthetrendofinternationalelectricaldevelopmenttogenerateelectricitybythenewenergyresources.Intherecentyears,thegeneratedelectricitybythewindhasbecomeonepartoftheenergyresourceswhichineverykindofenergyresourcesrapidlyincrease.Inthepresentday,theinstalledcapacityofwindelectricityhasreached4.9millionthousandwattinthewholeworld,anditstillincreaseatahigherspeed.InChina,the14windelectricityfieldshavebeenbuiltoneafteranothersince1986;thetotalloadingcapacityare5O,OOokWltheloadingcapacityar…     

The International Seminar Convened in Beijing on the Promulgation and the Implementation of“Natural Disaster Reduction Plan of the People's Republic of China”

ＴｈｅＩｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌＳｅｍｉｎａｒＣｏｎｖｅｎｅｄｉｎＢｅｉｊｉｎｇｏｎｔｈｅＰｒｏｍｕｌｇａｔｉｏｎａｎｄｔｈｅＩｍｐｌｅｍｅｎｔａｔｉｏｎｏｆ＂ＮａｔｕｒａｌＤｉｓ┐ａｓｔｅｒＲｅｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＰｌａｎｏｆｔｈｅＰｅｏｐｌｅ＇ｓＲｅｐ...     

Dead letter or living document? Ten years of the Code of Conduct for disaster relief

This paper examines the present value of the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief, in view of discussions on neutrality and the Western bias of the humanitarian aid system, and assesses how it can retain its relevance in future. The Code of Conduct was launched just after the Rwanda genocide of April 1994. A decade later, the crises in Afghanistan and Iraq have sparked renewed interest in humanitarian principles and in whether the code can serve as an instrument to define humanitarianism and guide humanitarian decision-making and coordination. More than 300 organisations have now subscribed to it. This paper is based on the findings of a survey of code signatories and the outcomes of a conference on the value and future of the code, held in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2004 to mark its tenth anniversary.     

How near is near? The distance perceptions of residents of a nuclear emergency planning zone

This paper reports the results of a study conducted within the emergency planning zone (EPZ) of the Nine Mile Point (NMP) nuclear complex located in Oswego County, New York. An EPZ is the area in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant for which detailed plans are implemented for the management of emergencies and for the communication of the risks of nuclear energy production. EPZs are subdivided into emergency response planning areas (ERPAs) according to distance from the plant. This study aimed at discovering how residents of the NMP EPZ perceived distance to the nuclear plant. Distance was conceptualized in five different and complementary ways: estimated straight line distance, estimated driving distance, actual straight distance, actual driving distance and perceived distance. The results indicate that people living at a very short distance from the nuclear plant perceive and estimate distance differently than people living farther away. These results have policy implications and suggest alternative and potentially more efficient ways to redesign ERPAs. Fundamental geographic variables and concepts such as distance, location, proximity and their associated human perceptions are important human dimensions of risk analysis. These results should be of interest to nuclear emergency planners and are probably applicable to many other hazard planning activities.     

A Summary Account of the Natural Disaster Situations in the First Half of 1997 in China

Inthefirsthalfof1997,therehadbeendifferentkindsofnaturalcalamitiesstrikingseveralpartsofChinasuchasdisastersofsnow,earthquake,drought,windandhail,raingust,floodsandwaterlogging,andicerun.ClosingJune30,thepopulationaffectedbyvariouskindsofdisastersreachedasmanyas76.72millionpeopleand39.84millionpeopleweredirectvictimsofthesedisasters.1,119peoplediedand24,000peoplewereinjured.Apopulationof630,000wasbesiegedbyfloods;809,000housesweredestroyed;26.7millionhaofcropsweredamagedand890,000peoplehadtobe…