What's New

EVENTS

1st International Training Workshop on Health Care Facility Emergency Preparedness and Response to Epidemics and Pandemics (HCF-EPREP) 26-29 Sep 2006. Grand Mercure Fortune Hotel. Bangkok, Thailand.

MoU signed for Public Health in Complex Emergencies Partnership, Sep 2006
The Public Health and Complex Emergencies (PHCE) Partnership has been formalized by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the five partner organizations which are committed to building the capacity of the humanitarian community to respond more effectively to the health needs of refugees and internally displaced persons around the world... >>more

TRAINING

Fourth International Training Course on Hospital Emergency Preparedness & Response (HEPR-4). 4-8 December 2006
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Overview

Disasters often result in significant impacts on people's health and cause the loss of many lives. Every new threat or disaster reveals the extent of challenges that remain in managing the health risks of disasters.

ADPC's Public Health in Emergencies (PHE) team aims to improve health outcomes of communities at risk of emergencies and disasters. In collaboration with our partners, PHE develops and implements capacity building projects and training programs which address continuing and emerging challenges in health emergency management at regional, national, sub-national and community levels. PHE programs help to strengthen health emergency management systems by building relationships between health disciplines and by integrating the health sector into community-wide disaster management systems.

Activities

The PHE team offers training and capacity building programs across the breadth of health emergency management. We offer project services by drawing upon the collective expertise of PHE and other ADPC teams, and our extensive network of technical experts who apply their knowledge and experience in the development, delivery and review of joint projects.

The PHE training program provides diverse quality learning opportunities for health managers, technical specialists, facilitators and community health workers to build their knowledge, skills and attitudes for managing health risks and public health consequences of disasters, communicable disease emergencies and conflict situations. PHE programs help to strengthen health emergency management systems by building relationships between health disciplines and by integrating the health sector into community-wide disaster management systems.

Training Program and Projects

PHE training courses have been developed and implemented in countries and communities around the world.

  • Inter-regional and National Public Health and Emergency Management in Asia & the Pacific (PHEMAP) courses. These courses focus on improving the management and coordination abilities of public health emergency managers in their roles as risk managers, program managers, operations managers and leaders.
  • Public Health in Complex Emergencies (PHCE) course is designed for health personnel working with refugees and internally displaced persons in complex emergencies.
  • Hospital Emergency Preparedness & Response (HEPR) assists health service managers and medical personnel with health facility planning and managing large numbers of casualties.
  • Disasters and Development (D&D) for health and development professionals and focusing on integrating health emergency risk management and sustainable development.
  • Psychosocial Support and Disaster Mental Health (CBPS) for mental health professionals with responsibility for planning and managing psychological support programs in disasters.
  • Basic Emergency Response Course (BERC) which combines training of trainers and community level training to build health emergency response capability in communities
  • Nutrition of Children and Mothers in Disasters (NCMD) which enables participants to train other health staff on managing nutritional needs in disasters.
  • Management of the Dead and the Missing in Disasters (MDM) addresses the multisectoral dimensions of managing missing persons and dead bodies, such as disaster victim identification, management of health risks, cultural traditions for burials, and psychosocial support for relatives.

Epidemic and pandemic preparedness has been an increasing focus of our activities, and has brought new partnerships and projects such as:

  • Health Care Facility Emergency Preparedness and Response to Epidemics and Pandemics (HCF-EPREP) which strengthens health care facility emergency planning for communicable disease emergencies, with a focus on pandemic influenza
  • Emerging Zoonotic Diseases which focuses on the development of risk and capacity assessment tools.

Key donors
The PHE team acknowledges the financial and in-kind support from many national government, international, academic, private sector and non-government organizations. In recent years, the following donors have supported PHE projects:

  • AusAID (Emerging Zoonotic Diseases)
  • Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (PHEMAP)
  • Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, USAID (Public Health in Complex Emergencies)
  • Royal Government of Norway (PHEMAP)

Key partners
In addition to our donor partners, the PHE team has consolidated long-standing partnerships and continues to develop new relationships with organizations working in public health, such as WHO's Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response in Geneva. In 2006, the following formal partnership agreements were signed:

  • PHEMAP: the MoU between WHO-SEARO, WHO-WPRO and ADPC was extended in June for another 3 years
  • Public Health in Complex Emergencies: a MoU was signed by ADPC, American University of Beirut (Lebanon),
  • Institute of Public Health, Makerere University (Uganda), International Rescue Committee and World Education Inc.
  • Thammasat University Faculty of Public Health: a MoU was signed with the new Faculty of Public Health at Thammasat University, Thailand.

PHE has also built relationships with Ministries of Health, UN organizations and all levels of WHO, including WHO countries offices in Cambodia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, with WPRO, SEARO, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) and with WHO Headquarters in Geneva. The PHE team is also working closely with the Red Cross movement, CARE, Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and the University of Texas School of Public Health.

Key project countries
The PHE team has welcomed participants to our training courses from Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe, Pacific and the Americas. Our recent projects have focused on Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Maldives, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia and Vietnam.