Trends in disasters in Spain and their impact on public health: 1950–2005

Abstract

During the decade 1994–2005 an average of 570 disasters affecting 260 million people with 67 000 deaths, occurred worldwide each year. Along with the direct impact of mortality and morbidity on the affected populations, the disasters have also resulted in extensive and long-lasting economic damage. For natural disasters alone, the United Nations has estimated that during the 1980s this amounted to approximately 120 000 million dollars annually, a figure that has been growing ever since. The current available evidence on disaster trends shows that their impact on different populations is not only growing but will also be considerably worse in future decades, mainly due to the effects of climate change and complex emergencies. A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental