Closing Remarks at the WHO Conference on Health Aspects of Tsunami Disaster in Asia, Phuket, Thailand, 4-6 May 2005

Closing Remarks by Dr Samlee Plianbangchang Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia at the WHO Conference on Health Aspects of Tsunami Disaster in Asia Phuket, Thailand 4-6 May 2005 WHO Conference on Health Aspects of Tsunami Disaster in Asia Phuket, Thailand, 4-6 May 2005 Closing Remarks by Dr Samlee Plianbangchang Regional Director for South-East Asia “Where do we go from here?” Chairman, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, • We have been engaged for the past few days, in trying to learn from the Tsunami experience. • While we looked closely at the Tsunami Crises specifically, it is important to view these lessons in the wider perspective of our work in risk, disaster and emergency management, not just in health, but in all sectors. • Let me explain a few points to help us proceed in this direction. • The Tsunami showed our weaknesses in various aspects of coordination, communication, and general emergency management. 2 • We have discussed them in detail and the points made are well taken. • There is always room for improvement not only in the manner and timeliness of our work, but also in the appropriateness of our approaches. • However, the Tsunami also demonstrated the strengths and potential of the health sector in responding effectively. • This was clearly seen in areas such as rapid health assessment, setting up of surveillance systems, and provision of health services including immunization campaign in difficult to reach localities. • This is where we were able to see an efficient and effective impact of our work as public health and humanitarian professionals in an emergency. • This was also seen in the setting up of the operational platform for emergency response and maintaining a coordination forum to keep all health actors unified in protecting the affected population. • Knowing our strengths and weaknesses, however, is not enough. 3 • We need to continue to review and analyse these critically, so that we can clearly identify the priorities in which investments are to be made in our future efforts. • Here, we may use the four E’s, namely, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Empowerment and Engagement as a guide in this appraisal. • Effectiveness: How well did the strategies we employed and the activities we conducted, reach the target population? What was the result? To begin with, we should develop some tools to measure such impact. • Efficiency: Although it is important to conduct assessments and provide health and health-related services to survivors or displaced people, it is equally important to consider the costs of our efforts against the benefits to the affected population. • Empowerment: Did our actions get transferred to a larger base of health professionals, humanitarian actors, or more importantly, the community at large? It is important that the actions are taken forward by nationals and the affected communities as this is what will prepare them better for a future disaster. 4 • Engagement: It is not only important that we empower our partners and each other. We should also ensure that the decision making process is collectively owned. • I think using the four E’s we can better map out our action in the rehabilitation phase and plan for long-term preparedness. • This is the reason why we are engaged in a lessons learnt exercise. Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, • As some of you may be aware, in September 2004, the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia adopted a resolution on emergency health preparedness. • The resolution provided clear direction on several key issues for the Member States and WHO to move forward in strengthening national capacity in this priority area. • Some of these included regional and intercountry collaboration, improving risk management, and building capacities in various areas of disaster management at the country level. 5 • Substantial progress in addressing some of these issues has been evident after the Tsunami experience. • We need, however, to look in more detail, how we can pursue this resolution and commitments systematically. • In the long term, the only way to ensure more efficiently organized response to health needs in an emergency is to ensure institutionalization of EPR programme within Ministries of Health and as a part of national disaster management plan. • Such a programme should deal primarily with the needs in the health sector for preparedness, response, recovery and rehabilitation, mitigation and prevention of various risks and hazards with the framework of national plan. • This programme shall also map out the resources required – both human and financial, for responding to the needs of populations at risk and those affected. • The requirement of political and high-level policy backing to the programme should be explicitly elaborated. • It would be WHO’s role to support the building and strengthening of such programmes in countries. 6 • The strategies to achieve what we have discussed in the past two days would naturally depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of the health systems in the countries. • However, what we need to do is quite clear from the discussions during the conference. • It is just a matter of prioritizing what we need to do first. • From our experience of the Tsunami and its aftermath, we need to have both short and a long-term planning. • Investment in disaster management and risk reduction in the health sector will go a long way in ensuring health protection during emergency. • In fact, not making the proper investments in human and other resources, would only help to compound the disaster. • The option is quite clear. • We have to grasp this opportunity to be better prepared next time. M:\RD- OFFICE\ Speeches\ 2005\ For RD\Closing remarks at Phuket Conf on Tsunami, 4- 6 May 05.doc