The Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster: Distribution of Hospital Damage in Miyagi Prefecture

摘要

In catastrophic disasters, the health impacts can be significant. A successful response to the aftermath requires that functioning health facilities be available. In 2008, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) set up a global campaign called Hospitals Safe from Disasters1 to raise awareness and to increase efforts to ensure hospitals' functional capacities during and in the aftermath of disasters. The 2009 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction confirmed the importance of protecting hospital infrastructure by stating that "one prime way of [protecting people's health] is making hospitals safer by enforcing and implementing building codes to ensure quality construction."