EAHA Day 3 Session 1: Fire Lecture
Channel: OER Africa
Date: 2012-07-04

Universities in the Eastern Africa Region have come together to implement an initiative Health Emergency Management Program (HEMP) that will build the capacity of local governments in the region to manage and plan for response to major disasters of public health importance. The Eastern African Region is prone to many natural and technological disasters of different kinds. There is not one nation in the region that is not vulnerable to the devastating effects of these disasters. Many of these disasters have a public health significance either directly in the case of epidemics of infectious diseases, or indirectly as a result of the breakdown of infrastructure associated with these disasters. The purpose of this initiative therefore is to increase the capacity of districts to plan for response, mitigation and preparedness for disasters, so as to reduce human suffering, morbidity and mortality that often arise from such incidents.
The success and implementation of this program in the region has been made possible by the funding from USAID.