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ith a view to enhancing the planning process and strategies to strengthen the Unified Health System’s (SUS) emergency and disaster response, the Department of Environmental Health Surveillance and Occupational Health of Brazil’s Ministry of Health has developed national plans and strengthened hazard-specific contingency plans for floods, drought and emergencies caused by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents.

The International Health Regulations (IHR) and the incorporation of the priorities and goals set in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, with particular emphasis on a multi-hazard approach, guide the work of the Ministry of Health with the different levels of SUS management and other stakeholders. This provides appropriate and timely support to the States and Municipal Secretaries of Health in disaster preparedness and response.

To achieve this goal the Ministry of Health and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation initiated a project called “Multi-Risk.” The first step was to conduct a diagnosis of the disaster preparedness and response capacity of Brazil’s 26 states and their capitals and the Federal District. Data was collected from state health departments and civil protection staff. The questionnaire, completed through interviews, included 44 indicators and 46 sub-indicators, defined using technical information from the Ministry of Health; the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR); the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Red Cross and PAHO/WHO.

Phase two of the project is underway and pilot interventions are being carried out in seven states and 15 municipalities to develop multi-hazard emergency plans that take into account the unique characteristics of each state. The results will be used to develop a guide for drafting emergency preparedness and response plans to reduce public health risks in disaster situations that will include disease surveillance, health promotion and health care.