The Pacific Emergency Health Initiative

Background

The The Pacific basin covers one third of the world’s surface. Thirty-two million people live in the Pacific region, which has 22 developing Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) comprising 8.5 million of the total population.

What is the Public Health Problem?

  • PICTs have the largest environmental disaster burden of any region in the world. During 1990–1999, this region leads the world in:
    • Per capita disaster mortality
    • Cumulative percentage of total population affected
    • Per capita disaster damage cos
    • Ten largest earthquakes on the Richter scale.
  • Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to disaster hazards and have limited capacity to respond to and recover from such hazards.
  • Studies have identified serious deficiencies among Pacific Island nations in healthcare, medical workforce, and health facilities.
  • Organisational and technological solutions to environmental emergencies developed in industrialised nations are not practical for small island developing states where human and technological resources are scarce and expensive.

What has CDC accomplished?

  • Established the Pacific Emergency Health Initiative (PEHI) in 2000 with the aim of strengthening the capacity for emergency preparedness and response among all PICTs.
  • Founded the Palau Pacific Centre for Emergency Health in 2001 to serve as a regional centre for training and education in the Pacific region.
  • Performed public health vulnerability assessments in 11 PICTs.
  • Initiated public health emergency plans for seven PICTs prior to September 11, 2001.
  • Developed PEHI-NET, an Internet-based information and communication tool available to all PICTs.
  • Trained more than 400 Pacific medical and public health officials in emergency preparedness and response, including six health ministers and secretaries of health.
  • Prepared a special issue of the regional public health journal, Pacific Health Dialog, on emergency health in the Pacific.
  • Established a fire protection training exchange programme between the Republic of Palau and USA fire departments.
  • Provided emergency technical assistance to the Federated States of Micronesia in response to the 2002 landslide disaster that killed 38 people.
  • Hosted four international conferences on public health preparedness among Pacific Island nations.
  • Developed and tested an innovative approach to disaster planning in the Pacific that will likely influence public health planners and NGOs worldwide.
  • Applied methodology and training developed in the Pacific to write a public health emergency plan for the Republic of Tanzania (a nation of 27 million people).
  • Assisted all six US Associated Pacific Island countries in preparing for bioterrorism.
  • Organised the first simultaneous regional emergency drill, which included four PICTs.
  • What are the next steps for 2004?
  • Help three Pacific Island nations write comprehensive all hazard public health emergency operation plans.
  • Promote sustainable indigenous education in emergency health and disaster management at the undergraduate and graduate levels in regional colleges and technical schools.
  • Provide education and training for over 200 more Pacificans involving public health and medical responses to environmental health emergencies.

What are the next steps for 2004?

  • Help three Pacific Island nations write comprehensive all hazard public health emergency operation plans.
  • Promote sustainable indigenous education in emergency health and disaster management at the undergraduate and graduate levels in regional colleges and technical schools.
  • Provide education and training for over 200 more Pacificans involving public health and medical responses to environmental health emergencies.
  • Mark Keim, MD
    Medical Officer
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    Atlanta, USA