Health response to the earthquake in Haiti, January 2010

Health response to the earthquake in Haiti January 20101972). Two-thirds of the capital’s population was displaced. However, there were significantdifferences from the Haiti earthquake:• Managua had a population of 325,000 compared to the 2.5 million in Port-au-Prince;• Fatalities were relatively few (3,000 to 7,000) compared to over 200,000 deaths inHaiti;• There was a strong dictatorial government in Nicaragua compared to a fragile butdemocratic government in Haiti.Economic impact• The earthquake set back the economic development of Haiti by 10 years;• The economic valuation process of damage and losses does not reflect the magnitudeof human losses and suffering;• When translated into monetary value, the social losses represent only a relatively modesteconomic cost.The health sector does not operate in a vacuum. It is entirely dependent on the economichealth of the country and its population. An impact of the earthquake oneconomic well-being is an impact on public health.The disaster impact on economic performance, employment, and poverty can be assessedfrom two measures:1. The damage: that is, the replacement value of physical assets wholly or partiallydestroyed;2. The losses: the economic flows resulting from the temporary absence of damagedassets.According to the PDNA, the total value of damage and losses caused by the earthquakeon 12 January 2010 is estimated at US$ 7.804 billion, surpassing the country’sGDP in 2009. This is the first time in 35 years of applying the assessment methodologydeveloped by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and theCaribbean 16 for estimating damage and losses that the cost of a disaster is so high ineconomic terms in relation to a country’s GDP.The private sector (including not-for-profit) sustained most of the damage and losses(US$ 5.722 billion, 73% of the total), whereas the public sector’s share totaled US$2.081 billion, or 27%. There are two exceptions: the health sector, where only 40% ofthe health damage/losses were borne by the private sector (i.e., nongovernmental, in-16 The Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) methodology was initially developed by the UN Economic Commission forLatin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) in 1972. It has since been improved through close cooperation of PAHO/WHO, the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, UNESCO, and ILO to capture the closest approximation ofdamage and losses due to disaster events. It is a flexible tool that can be adapted to specific disaster types and governmentownership requirements. The DaLA methodology bases its assessments on the overall economy of the affected country.14