Rapid health assessments of evacuation centres in areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan

Rapid health assessments of evacuation centres in areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan

Blog Article

Introduction: Typhoon Salves Haiyan caused thousands of deaths and catastrophic destruction, leaving many homeless in Region 8 of the Philippines.A team from the Philippine Field Epidemiology Training Program conducted a rapid health assessment survey of evacuation centres severely affected by Haiyan.Methods: A descriptive study was conducted whereby a convenience sample of evacuation centres were assessed on the number of toilets per evacuee, sanitation, drinking-water, food supply source and medical services.Results: Of the 20 evacuation centres assessed, none had a designated manager.

Most were located in schools (70%) with the estimated number of evacuees ranging from 15 to 5000 per centre.Only four (20%) met the World Health Organization standard for number of toilets per evacuee; none of the large evacuation centres had even half the recommended number of toilets.All of the evacuation centres had available drinking-water.None of the evacuation centres had garbage collection, vector control activities or standby medical teams.

Fourteen (70%) evacuation centres had onsite vaccination activities for measles, tetanus and polio virus.Many Eye Palette evacuation centres were overcrowded.Conclusion: Evacuation centres are needed in almost every disaster.They should be safely located and equipped with the required amenities.

In disaster-prone areas such as the Philippines, schools and community centres should not be designated as evacuation centres unless they are equipped with adequate sanitation services.