Environmental Health and Disasters: A series to keep you updated

Since 2003, the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Program, jointly with CEPIS/PAHO have been publishing a series on Environmental Health and Disasters. The series is aimed at disseminating new knowledge on risk management, and focuses on health-related issues, particularly regarding to drinking water, sewerage and solid waste. It also addresses aspects related to the protection of infrastructure to minimize the effects of disasters, and the restoration of the quality of services after the occurrence of adverse natural events.

The series is intended for professionals and technical workers from Latin America and the Caribbean region who are involved in disaster management, as well as in addressing their risks and effects on health. The documents published to date are as follows:

• Minimizing Earthquake Damage: Guide for Water Utilities, which provides information based on real-life situations in order to prevent the potential damage that earthquakes could cause to drinking water systems. This is a joint publication with the American Water Works Association

• Impact of the El Niño on Water and Sewerage Infrastructure: Experiences from Ecuador 1997-1998, which gathers the experience of water and sanitation service providers, as well as the effects on the infrastructure of these services and the resulting consequences to health.

• Effects of the Eruption of the Reventador Volcano (2002) on water and sewerage systems: Lessons learned. This publication is an analysis of the level of vulnerability and how it deteriorates the quality of services. It also includes the actions carried out to deal with emergency situations.

The full text of all these publications is available on CEPIS/PAHO’s website (http://www.cepis.org.pe/bvsade/pub/index.html). Your
comments and contributions are welcome. If you have any suggestions about a particular issue that should be included in this series, please contact us via email at: desastre@cepis.ops-oms.org