Health Centred Disaster Risk Reduction
(HCDRR)
Theme, Background and Context
Dealing with Disasters Conference 17th-18th September
Prof. Andrew E. Collins
Department of Geography / Disaster and Development Network (DDN)
Northumbria University
andrew.collins@northumbria.ac.uk
Past Dealing with Disasters Conferences
2006: Planning Response and Investigation
2007: Resilience, Response and Investigation
2008: Putting Resilience into Response
2009: Resilience through Local Governance
2010: Linking Disasters and Development: the next 10 years
2011: Reflections on Recent Disasters: the last 10 years
2013: From Opportunity to Action: Bridging the Gap between
Disaster Reduction and Development through Science(s),
Technology and People Centred Actions
2014: Building Disaster Resilience is Everybody's Business
2015: Health Centred Disaster Risk Reduction: a new agenda for a
new era
2
Suggested HCDRR Analytical
Framework
• How disasters impact on health?
• How health mediates disaster and
development?
• How to deal with complex and uncertain
health disasters?
3
Some Research Projects Informing Health
Centred Disaster Risk Reduction (HCDRR)
1. Environmental Influences on the Distribution of Incidence of
Cholera – spatio-temporal environmental analysis
2. Environment, Health and Population Displacement - hazard,
vulnerability and context or health ecology
3. Infectious Disease Risk Management (IDRM) – ecological and social
indicators to guide intervention strategies
4. Infectious Disease Risk Reduction – as for 3, concept and capacity
5. Health Security for Disaster Resilience – grounded research
6. Resilience to Wellbeing through Integrated Health Risk
Reduction – concept/policy impact
British Council
UNICEF
WHO
4
Simplified notion of change in health and wellbeing
through critical incidents
People’s
resistance to
physical and
mental stresses
or shocks,
reduction of
poverty and illhealth and
presence of basic
rights.
C
A
X
Y
A = Point of disaster
B = Lowest point of disaster
C = Recovery point at x years
Y = Change in (health)
indicator due to disaster
X = Rate of recovery
B
Time
Collins, A.E. (2006) Health Security for Disaster Resilience, ESRC 5
Health as prerequisite and outcome of disaster
and climate risk
Health
Prerequisite
Disaster Risk
Management
Climate
Risk
Climate
Change
Mitigation
Health
Outcome
Climate
Change
Adaptation
Collins, A.E., Abrahams, J. and Murray, V. (2014) ‘Human health, climate risk management and disaster reduction
post HFA’, a paper for the Global Assessment Report (GAR) on Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations: Geneva.
Systems of meaning for health disaster reduction
and development
Cosmology – Faith
Based Beliefs –
Existential Discourse
– Aesthetic Goals
Systems of Meaning
and Social Relations
as Societal Health
Disaster and
Development
Outcomes mediated
by:
- power and structures
- technology and
education
- human behaviour
7
Systems of meaning and social relations that
mediate health, disaster and development
Social Relations
Support networks – social capital
Communication
Accountabilities
Responsibilities
Dependencies
Emotional ties
Kinship ties
Symbioses
Empathy
Systems of Meaning
Intrinsic value of natural systems
Intrinsic value of human life
Mediation and cooperation
Hope and expectation
Trust – Mistrust
Consciousness
Rationality
Justice
Rights
8
Awakening
Healthy societies impact on disaster risk. These societies
comprise people who are able to:
- get out of the way of disaster - being mobile socially,
economically and physically, whilst willing to help those
who are not
- offset risks with resilience to resurgent and emergent
health hazards
- maintain aspirations and decision making capacity
- motivate towards greater survivability, sustainability
and well-being
… by dealing with the barriers and transitions within these
processes?
9
Policy Implications and Drivers to Accommodate
Systemic Progress in Disaster Risk Reduction
• Understand boundaries and transitions in health
centred disaster risk reduction
• Cross disciplinary boundaries to understand influences
on persistent, emergent and resurgent health risks
• Link practice to theory change – practitioners
alongside analysts, survivors, politicians and scientists
• Research and learning that heightens awareness,
brings behavioural change, enhances capacity
building, communication, regulation, innovation and
much better financing.
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