Environmental health in emergencies
Introduction
Emergency situations, including those due to natural hazards (e.g. earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, landslides, wildfires and droughts), technological hazards (e.g. chemical spills, disruption to infrastructure), complex situations (produced by conflict) and outbreaks, lead to health-related diseases and affect populations in all contexts.
The scale and types of radiological and nuclear emergencies may range from an isolated occupational or medical over-exposure of a person, to a major catastrophe with global dimensions.
Publications
This document describes protocols and practices for ensuring the essential elements of a national stockpile of medical countermeasures for radiation emergencies,...
The purpose of the WHO human health risk assessment toolkit: chemical hazards is to provide its users with guidance to identify, acquire and use the information...
A framework for mental health and psychosocial support in radiological and nuclear emergencies
The health impact of radiological and nuclear emergencies can last for decades. Lessons learned from past radiological and nuclear accidents have demonstrated...
Management of radioactivity in drinking-water
Chapter 9 of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (GDWQ) provides guidance related to radiological aspects of drinking-water. Management...
Communicating risk in public health emergencies: a WHO guideline for emergency risk communication (ERC)...
Recent public health emergencies, such as the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa (2014–2015), the emergence of the Zika virus syndrome in...
Guidance document on evaluating and expressing uncertainty in hazard characterization, 2nd edition
Guidance on Evaluating and Expressing Uncertainty in Hazard Assessment is available in Harmonization Project Document No. 11, 2nd Edition (2017). The 2nd...
Iodine thyroid blocking: Guidelines for use in planning and responding to radiological and nuclear emergencies
These guidelines are an update of the 1999 World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on the use of iodine thyroid blocking (ITB) with a special focus on...
Initial clinical management of patients exposed to chemical weapons: interim guidance document
This interim guidance is aimed at healthcare workers who may receive patients exposed to chemical weapons at their healthcare facilities. The guidance...
The purpose of the WHO Manual for the Public Health Management of Chemical Incidents is to provide a comprehensive overview of the principles and roles...
Mass casualty management systems : strategies and guidelines for building health sector capacity
The common gaps in health system preparedness around the world are generally well understood, but they are often not addressed in a comprehensive and systematic...
The drinking-water response to the Indian Ocean tsunami including the role of household water treatment
The 26 December 2004 tsunami devastated costal areas of eleven countries around the Indian Ocean. As part of an unprecedented emergency response, stakeholders...
Terrorist threats to food: guidance for establishing and strengthening prevention and response systems
The malicious contamination of food for terrorist purposes is a real and current threat, and deliberate contamination of food at one location could have...
Environmental health in emergencies and disasters: A practical guide
The WHO Guide to sanitation in natural disasters (Assar, 1971) summarized the essential aspects of environmental health management in disasters. These...
