Abstract
The Bam earthquake on 26 December 2003 was one of the worst natural disasters in Iran in the last century. The Iranian health system responded immediately to the devastating earthquake in various ways including diagnosis and treatment management, providing environmental health services, setting up health facilities and field hospitals with international aid, providing health professionals and medical assistants, and establishing mental and family health services. Ten months after the disaster, temporary housing for survivors was almost completed; mental health, reproductive health, environmental and oral health services were established; offering services of quality comparable or better than what was provided prior to the earthquake. A disease notification system was established within the Primary Health Care network (PHC) to prevent contagious and non-communicable diseases. This paper evaluates the responsiveness of the health sector to the disaster and reviews the strategies employed by national disasters and health managers following the earthquake.
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