Preparedness for public health emergencies at hospitals under Department of Health in coastal area of Myanmar (Burma)

Abstract

Objective: To assess the current preparedness for public health emergencies (PHEs) at the public hospitals in coastal area of Myanmar.Design: Cross-sectional design.Participants: The survey questionnaires were sent to 65 hospitals (25 percent of total hospitals) located in coastal area of Myanmar in 2010. The hospital directors from the respective hospitals were requested to provide information about the PHE preparedness within their responsible hospitals.Main outcome measure: Scores of each area of PHE preparedness derived from hospital directors’ responses were used to assess the differences between the current levels of preparedness against the referral criteria.Results: Forty of 65 hospitals returned completed questionnaires. Among the responded hospitals, 50 percent had PHE preparedness plan of which 37.5 percent linked with the community plan, 45 percent reported having review and revise the plan at least yearly, 65 percent had protocol for PHE, 85 percent had surveillance for diseases under national surveillance, 82.5 percent had emergency procurement of drugs and supply, 60 percent had isolation rooms, 47.5 percent had training for PHE in 2009 while 37.5 percent conducted drills during 2009, 30 percent appointed media responsible person, 42.5 percent had triage area, and 67.5 percent had evacuation arrangements for medical documents and patients records. The study results revealed that there were statistical differences at different referral levels of hospitals in capacity for planning (p < 0.01), resources (p = 0.03), communication (p < 0.01), and response (p = 0.02).Conclusions: This study suggested that preparedness for PHEs required capacity strengthening especially in the primary referral level hospitals to have an effective response to PHE.