Who are we?
Disaster epidemiology assesses the short and long-term adverse health effects of disasters to help guide emergency response and recovery efforts and predict the consequences of future disasters. It provides situational awareness, information that helps us understand the needs, plan the response, and gather the appropriate resources. The main objectives of disaster epidemiology are to:
- prevent or reduce the number of deaths, illnesses, and injuries caused by disasters,
- provide timely and accurate health information for decision-makers,
- improve prevention and mitigation strategies for future disasters by collecting data for future response preparation.