Strengthening rehabilitation in emergencies

Every year, over 170 million people are affected by conflict, and another 190 million by disasters.

These emergencies, in particular those that cause surges in injuries or critical illness, create enormous surges in rehabilitation needs. By ensuring that those who are injured or unwell achieve the best possible health and functioning outcomes, rehabilitation professionals can play a vital role in emergency responses.

All communities are at risk of emergencies, including those associated with infectious disease outbreaks, conflicts, and natural, technological and other hazards. Unfortunately, it is countries with poorly resourced health systems that are most vulnerable to emergencies, and these health systems typically include limited rehabilitation services that are often not well positioned to respond to major emergencies.

The important role that rehabilitation professionals can play is recognised in a growing number of global guidelines, including several WHO publications. There remains a need to support the strengthening of rehabilitation across the continuum of health emergency and disaster risk management, in particular around all hazard health emergency preparedness.

WHO’s role includes:

• Developing advocacy and policy resources to support the integration of rehabilitation into health emergency risk management.
• Developing technical resources and capacity to support the strengthening of rehabilitation as a component of health emergency preparedness.
• Building national and regional technical capacity to provide rehabilitation leadership and coordination in emergency responses.