Abstract
Background Understanding disaster risk is the first priority for action based on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), and hazard assessment is the first step in the assessment of disaster risks. Therefore, assessing health-oriented hazards is the first measure in disaster risk assessment in the medical universities area in Iran. This article introduces a national experience and results obtained from designing a national tool for defining and assessment of health-oriented hazards in Iran. Methods In the present study, a National Health-Oriented Hazard Assessment tool (NHHAT) was developed by experts and implemented by the Iranian Ministry of Health for gathering data according to frequency, probability, magnitude, and vulnerability of the hazards to identify the first ten hazards of medical universities in the two decades ago (2000–2021). Finally, the top 20 health-oriented hazards were identified among the ten hazards reported by each university. Results According to the findings, the four most important hazards were road traffic accidents, earthquakes, drought, and seasonal floods. Nevertheless, the hazards such as desertification, tunnel events, soil liquefaction, mass population movement, and sea progression were among the rarest ones reported in the medical universities in Iran. Conclusion Many functional aspects of disaster risk management depend on the realistic and accurate information related to the main elements of risk, especially the probable hazards in the communities. The comprehensive hazard assessment can only provide such information using context-bond tools. This is an applied study and a national implementation to fulfill the priority of the Sendai framework (i.e., understanding disasters risk) in Iran. It is suggested that other countries should also compile standard tools to explore the hazards for designing up-to-date hazard maps.
Highlights
Understanding disaster risk is the first priority for action based on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), and hazard assessment is the first step in the assessment of disaster risks. erefore, assessing health-oriented hazards is the first measure in disaster risk assessment in the medical universities area in Iran. is article introduces a national experience and results obtained from designing a national tool for defining and assessment of health-oriented hazards in Iran
As mentioned in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030), all policies and plans for disaster risk management should be based on understanding disaster risk from all aspects, including the vulnerability of individuals and properties, capacities, exposures, and characteristics of the environment and the hazard behavior
After designing the National Health-Oriented Hazard Assessment tool (NHHAT) and gathering data, the hazards and their occurrences, probability, magnitude, and impacts from 45 medical universities were analyzed to extract a list of the top 20 healthoriented hazards in Iran
Summary
Understanding disaster risk is the first priority for action based on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), and hazard assessment is the first step in the assessment of disaster risks. erefore, assessing health-oriented hazards is the first measure in disaster risk assessment in the medical universities area in Iran. is article introduces a national experience and results obtained from designing a national tool for defining and assessment of health-oriented hazards in Iran. Erefore, assessing health-oriented hazards is the first measure in disaster risk assessment in the medical universities area in Iran. The four most important hazards were road traffic accidents, earthquakes, drought, and seasonal floods The hazards such as desertification, tunnel events, soil liquefaction, mass population movement, and sea progression were among the rarest ones reported in the medical universities in Iran. As mentioned in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030), all policies and plans for disaster risk management should be based on understanding disaster risk from all aspects, including the vulnerability of individuals and properties, capacities, exposures, and characteristics of the environment and the hazard behavior. More than 90% of all casualties from natural disasters happened in developing countries [5,6,7]
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