Population growth and disasters

26 World Health • 47th Year, No.3, May-June 1994 Population growth and disasters Samir Ben Yahmed H ardly a day now passes without news about a major or complex emergency happening in some part of the world. Disasters continue to strike and cause destruction in developing and developed countries alike, raising people's concern about their vulnerability to occurrences that can gravely affect their day-to-day life and their future. Major disasters have had a big impact on the migration of popula- tions and related health problems. More than 20 million refugees and around 30 million internally dis- placed people are struggling for minimum vital health needs, boost- ing the toll of many millions who lack basic health services, have no access to safe drinking-water and suffer from malnutrition. In many places, for instance in parts of Africa, displaced people resettle on their own without claiming official status as refugees or displaced persons, so that even these figures do not convey the true picture. The Department of Humanitarian Affairs in the United Nations has registered a 35% rise in the number of complex emergencies between 1991 and 1993. These alarming figures pose the following burning questions. • Are disasters simply fatalities which humankind is condemned to suffer? • Why does the rise in disasters closely parallel the rise in population growth? • Why do disasters cause much greater havoc to poor countries than to rich ones in terms of human lives lost and property destroyed? Vulnerable populations Emergencies, especially those that occur in nature, only become catastrophic events when they combine with vulnerability factors, such as human settlements and population density. An earthquake occurring in a deserted area would be considered a natural hazard; but if it occurred in a megacity it would be recognized as a major disaster. This is also true for complex emergencies. These are defined as "forms of human-made emergencies in which the cause of the emergen- cies as well as the assistance to the afflicted are bound by intense levels of political considerations. The single most prevalent political condition of a complex emergency is civil conflict, resulting in a collapse of political authority in all or part of a country." If we analyse population vulnerability within the context of complex emergencies, we will find that they amount, at their most basic level, to a competition for resources, often emerging as disputes over The hazards that can result in emergencies must not be overlooked when population issues are being considered. Equally, it would be wrong to neglect the population dimension of emergency management. land, water rights, natural resources or jobs at global level. Another type of emergency that has to do with population vulner- ability concerns technological disasters such as those of a chemical or radiological nature. To build chemical plants in the middle of populated areas without the required safety measures and plans for emergency management can and does lead to technological disasters, such as at Bhopal and Chernobyl. These examples demonstrate that major and complex emergencies are closely linked to anarchic population growth, leading to unplanned population settlements, environmen- Demographic growth pressures force vast numbers of people to resettle in another region, often in very unsafe conditions. World Health • 47th Yeor, No.3, May-June 1994 tal degradation and poverty. The lack of minimum health services and basic education are aggravating factors which could make a disaster out of an emergency and a complex emergency out of social tension. Emergencies and sustainable development Population-related issues are usually dealt with in the development context, and only rarely in the framework of humanitarian action. But sustainable development cannot be cut off from humanitarian action and vice versa; these two issues are linked together in a single con- tinuum or cycle. The international community, including the United Nations, often speaks about this continuum from relief to development. The rationale behind it is that whatever is done in the relief phase following a major or complex emergency should lead to a better schema for sustainable development. WHO sees it as being a cycle in which emergency preven- tion, mitigation and preparedness are integrated so as to form part of sustainable development, thus leading to quick, well-planned and efficient humanitarian action in the aftermath of an emergency. Simi- larly, relief, recovery and rehabilita- tion efforts which are components of humanitarian efforts, can, if care- In emergency situations, health care is the first and most crucial need of victims. fully thought out and implemented, strengthen the community's coping mechanisms. Issues on disasters and popula- tion are therefore best approached in an integrated fashion and with proper regard to the cycle from relief to development. The risks and hazards that can result in emergen- cies must not be overlooked when population issues are being consid- ered in the development phase. Equally, it would be wrong to neglect the population dimension of emergency management. In fact, emergency management and population issues cannot be dealt with by one sector or depart- 27 ment alone. "Horizontal" coopera- tion among all sectors concerned is a must if any action to mitigate the negative effects of these two phenomena is to succeed. Therefore they need to be integrated into national socioeconomic and devel- opment planning and, together with such components as the environ- ment, should become part of all programmes, projects and activities affecting people' s lives. Public awareness, education and informa- tion, and the sensitization of com- munity leaders are the key elements of a successful strategy to contain the problems of population growth as well as improve emergency management. The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), which fosters global efforts throughout the 1990s to reduce the effects of catastrophic events, is an ideal vehicle for the required change in global policies and strategies. If the scope is enlarged to encompass man-made disasters as well, it could lead to a real shift in the way we think about and handle these problems. The theme "From disaster management to sustainable develop- ment", advocated by WHO, was a major feature at the World Confer- ence on Natural Disaster Reduction, in Yokohama, Japan, in May this year.• Or Samir Ben Yahmed is Coordinator Emergency Preparedness and Planni;g, Division of Emergency and Humanitarian Action, World Health Organization, I 2 I I Geneva 27, Switzerland. Humanitarian Assistance ...,.,._--'..... Development Site aher pressures from population growth and urbanization Poverty, population growth and urbanization oblige people to make their homes in unsafe areas. Recovery Humanitarian{ Assistance Response Disaster impact Prevention }··"'- Preparedness The cycle that links disaster prevention and development.