Disaster management 2009

First international conference on disaster management and human health risk: reducing risk, improving outcomes.

Human-made and natural [hazard-related] disasters in 2004 were estimated to have claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide with economic losses in the order of US$100 billion. The year 2005 further tested the international relief community with ‘unparalleled frequency and scale of natural [hazard-related] disaster’; Hurricane Katrina alone having destroyed 300,000 homes, displaced 770,000 people, and cost US $200 billion. Figures for 2006 and 2007 follow similar patterns.

All these events pose unprecedented risks to human health on a world scale which requires a massive effort by the international community. This conference therefore focuses on current global health risks, and how best to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters in order to reduce human health impacts.

It will help participants to understand the nature of global risks, learn risk management strategies to prepare for disruptive events, and identify the best prevention methods in disaster management and public health. It will provide a forum for the exchange of information between leading academics and partners in disaster management.