Ensuring people's physical and psychological health is fundamental in the response to any natural disaster or conflict. The first priority of aid workers is to reduce and prevent the number of people who will die and then to respond to their public health and medical needs.  This can only be done by professionals who are properly trained and who understand the relationship between health and other human rights, such as water and sanitation, shelter and nutrition.

In addition to the immediate health and medical response following an emergency, there are subsequent medical issues affecting surviving populations. Often people displaced by disaster are at increased risk of disease due to a lack of access to medical facilities and a shortage of clean water and adequate sanitation.

"Displaced people were more vulnerable to treatable and preventable infectious diseases including cholera, measles and bubonic plague. Diarrhoea remained a frequent killer of children and elderly people in crowded camps without adequate sanitation.” [Internal Displacement: Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2007, NRC and IDMC]

Recently ,RedR delivered training to the UN-led Nutrition cluster, as part of a tri-cluster group including Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Shelter. We have also set up an innovative Critical Incident Stress Management programme and support network in Sudan to help aid workers deal psychologically with the stress of working in such a volatile environment.
 

International Health Exchange

Following our merger with the International Health Exchange (IHE) in 2003, RedR has a broad range of experience and knowledge in this area. We also jointly publish the Health Exchange magazine, which is a forum for practitioners and frontline health workers to share experiences and lessons from the field. It is a quarterly on-line and print magazine designed to have a practical focus on important health topics.

 

 

 

 

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