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| WHO - Tsunami Care Guide |
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with supporting the attainment of the highest possible levels of health by all the world’s people. Its task groups represent science and practice from all parts of the globe as it tackles a wide, wide range of public health matters and promulgates guidelines and recommendations to deal with the issues involved. Both disasters and mental health are principal areas of activity and concern for WHO.
Following the December 26 tsunami in southeast Asia, a great deal of interest has been focused on the social and psychological impacts in affected areas. WHO has made an effort to highlight both current evidence on empirically supported interventions and current consensus on best practices—especially as these are further complicated by economic, social, cultural, and religious factors that are often quite different from those of populations usually studied. WHO has placed a special section on their website which can be reached here.
This page also provides links to a number of resources of particular interest. WHO published in 2003 a circular on mental health in emergencies, that articulates positions very consistent with those CCN has taken and is taking with respect to crises and their consequences. You can access that circular here.
The staff of WHO’s Mental Health Evidence and Research Section published its ideas regarding emerging consensus regarding approaches to mental and social health following acute emergencies in the January 2005 issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Again, the positions articulated are very consistent with those adopted by CCN in our work (click here to view).
There is also a link provided to the Sphere Handbook, perhaps the world’s most influential guidebook for organizations providing international humanitarian assistance. The most recent edition of the Sphere Handbook now includes guidelines regarding mental and social aspects of health (pp. 291-293). You will also quickly see the consistency of these precepts to the operating principles CCN has put forward for its efforts. The Sphere Handbook’s health section can be located here.
Crisis Care Network
January 24, 2005 |
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