DISASTER MEDICINE AND MENTAL HEALTH

Citation

(2000), "DISASTER MEDICINE AND MENTAL HEALTH", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 9 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2000.07309cag.003

DISASTER MEDICINE AND MENTAL HEALTH

DISASTER MEDICINE AND MENTAL HEALTH

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)http://www.paho.org/english/ped/pedhome.htm (click on "New publications")

One year after Hurricanes Georges and Mitch devastated Central America and the Caribbean, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) has published a monograph reviewing those events and reflecting on lessons learned in the health sector. Disaster Chronicle on Hurricanes Georges and Mitch includes eight reports produced in the affected countries themselves, thus recording valuable, first-hand experiences and chronicling these two, almost consecutive disasters. Hurricane Georges is analysed in reports from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, while Hurricane Mitch is described in reports from Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize. Two annexes conclude the volume, which is currently available only in Spanish. The book can be accessed and downloaded from PAHO's Emergency Preparedness Program Web site above. A limited number of free printed copies are available and can be requested by e-mailing: disaster-publications@paho.org.

This site now also offers Humanitarian Assistance in Disaster Situations: A Guide for Effective Aid, a new publication that combines and updates several older guides for the donor community.

(Adapted from PAHO's "DisasterInfo" e-mail list. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: disaster-publications@paho.org.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) "Technical Guidelines"http://www.paho.org/english/ped/technical.htm

PAHO has also added a section to its Web site entitled "Technical guidelines". These pages are intended to answer questions that professionals might have about the provision of public health in emergencies. More than 20 public health experts helped prepare this material, which includes sections on needs assessment, vaccinations, special needs, donations, food safety, surveillance, water and sanitation, the environment, medical services, displaced persons, and communicable diseases. The site provides contact information (e-mail addresses, phone numbers) for experts in each area.

Mental Health Workers Without Borders (MHWWB)http://www.mhwwb.org

Mental Health Workers Without Borders (MHWWB) is an international, not-for-profit, non-governmental network of activist mental health workers of all types and professions whose aim is to provide psychosocial assistance following natural and human-caused disasters and to provide technical assistance to developing countries so that they can provide treatment and psychosocial rehabilitation for their citizens. MHWWB encourages family- and community-based approaches to mental health therapy while respecting cultural variation, drawing on local resources and traditions, and emphasising community empowerment. The MHWWB Web site includes sections on Activities Human Rights, Rehabilitation, and Disasters, with numerous links to sites providing information in these areas. It also offers a downloadable manual, Coping with Disasters: A Guide to Psychosocial Responses to Disaster.

For more information about MHWWB, contact: Mental Health Workers Without Borders, c/o Martin Gittelman, 100 West 94th Street, New York, NY 10025. E-mail: mhwwb@mhwwb.org