The WHO Thematic Platform for Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Research Network (TPRN) was established in 2016 in response to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015⁻2030. The TPRN facilitates global collaborative action for improving the scientific evidence base in health emergency and disaster risk management (Health EDRM). In 2018, the WHO convened a meeting to identify key research questions, bringing together leading experts from WHO, TPRN, World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and... read more

OBJECTIVES:

Asthma can be triggered by various factors due to different etiologies. Environmental factors remain a common trigger of asthma, especially amongst children, and such ambient exposures can be harder to avoid compared to behavioral triggers. As such, the contribution of environmental factors may be enhanced when considering repeat asthma cases compared to initial presentations. To test this hypothesis, we assessed associations between ambient temperature and hospital admissions for asthma in Hong Kong and stratified admission records into first and repeat asthma... read more

Rural populations living in poverty are the most vulnerable to disaster. Despite this increased risk of recurrent disaster, previous disaster experience is not a good predictor for disaster preparedness in these populations. This was evidenced on 31 August 2012, when a major flood occurred in Sichuan, China. A health needs assessment carried out in December 2012 showed that residents of Hongyan village, a Yi-minority community in Sichuan lacked disaster preparedness. This indicated that measures were necessary to improve Health Emergency Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) in the... read more

Background

This review examines the human health impact of climate change in China. Through reviewing available research findings under four major climate change phenomena, namely extreme temperature, altered rainfall pattern, rise of sea level and extreme weather events, relevant implications for other middle-income population with similar contexts will be synthesized.

Sources of data

Sources of data included bilingual peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2018 in PubMed, Google Scholar and China Academic Journals Full-text Database.

Areas of... read more

Introduction: As a subtropical urbanized city in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong is prone to frequent typhoons. With increasing number of severe typhoons, usual preparedness measures should be explored to assess their adequacy to safeguard health and wellbeing. Typhoon Mangkhut (2018) serves as an example of the successes and limitation of community preparedness for a severe typhoon. Aim: To explore how Hong Kong residents prepared for Typhoon Mangkhut and whether their usual preparedness measures provided enough protection. Method: A population-based randomized telephone survey of Hong Kong... read more

Heated debates over the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 introduced by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government have led to numerous public marches and demonstrations since June 9, 2019.

Health-emergency disaster risk management (health-EDRM) aims to reduce the health risks and vulnerability associated with emergencies and disasters, such as natural disasters, infectious disease epidemics, complex emergencies, technology failure, or global population movement. Medical care and health responses in emergency contexts often rely on best-fit interventions rather than best practices to protect communities in suboptimally functioning systems and complex contexts. Unlike health emergency actions that are focused on the response, the health-EDRM approach emphasises emergency... read more

Introduction

Disaster epidemiological studies indicate that Asia has the highest frequency of natural disasters. Rural communities are heavily impacted by natural disasters and have different healthcare needs to urban ones. Referencing Asian countries, this paper’s objective is to provide an overview of health impacts and the current evidence for designing programmes and policies related to rural health emergency and disaster risk management (health-EDRM).

Sources of data

This paper uses published English-only reports and papers retrieved from PubMed, Google Scholar,... read more

BACKGROUND:

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of death among people with diabetes mellitus (DM) and has been found to occur more frequently with extreme temperatures. With the increasing prevalence of DM and the rising global mean temperature, the number of heat-related AMI cases among DM patients may increase. This study compares excess risk of AMI during periods of extreme temperatures between patients with DM and without DM.

METHODS:

Disaster awareness and household preparedness are crucial for reducing the negative effects of a disaster. This study aims to examine the citizens’ preparedness level in the event of a general disaster or outbreak of infectious disease and to identify suitable channels for community disease surveillance and risk communication. We used a stratified random design to conduct a digit-dialed telephone survey in Hong Kong during February 2014. Level of disaster preparedness was examined according to the possession of disaster kit items. Associations between socio-demographic factors and good... read more

Myanmar is a country in political and economic transition. Facing a wide-variety of natural hazards and ongoing conflict, the country’s under-developed infrastructure has resulted in high disaster risk. Following the devastation of Cyclone Nargis in 2008 and increased global focus on disaster management and risk reduction, Myanmar has begun development of national disaster policies. Myanmar’s Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction addressed multiple stages of disaster development and has made progress towards national projects, however, has struggled to implement community-based... read more

Pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) are the commonest causes of respiratory hospitalization among older adults. Both diseases have been reported to be associated with ambient temperature, but the associations have not been compared between the diseases. Their associations with other meteorological variables have also not been well studied. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between meteorological variables, pneumonia, and COPD hospitalization among adults over 60 and to compare these associations between the diseases. Daily cause-specific hospitalization... read more

Fire is one of the major disasters in rural communities but evidence of the effectiveness of education interventions against fire risks is limited. This was a 2-year study assessed the effectiveness of face-to-face Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) education interventions for raising fire risk reduction knowledge in a fire-prone rural ethnic minority community. The study was conducted in various pre-set time points of an intervention-based project in a Dong-based community in Nanjiang Village, Guizhou Province in 2015 and 2016 to increase knowledge among the... read more

OBJECTIVE:

Restrictive food avoidance behavior among Chinese cancer patients is common. Yet, to the authors' knowledge, no study has investigated factors associated with such behavior. This study attempted to validate a new measurement tool, the Cancer Patients Food Avoidance Behaviors Scale (CPFAB), that assessed cancer patients' belief regarding 5 perceived benefits of practicing food avoidance, and to test its applicability.

DESIGN:

Cross-sectional face-to-face interviews.

SETTING:

Two outpatient oncology clinics in 2 different districts of Hong Kong... read more

Ma’an Qiao Village, a Dai and Yi ethnic minority-based community in Sichuan Province, China sustained complete infrastructure devastation during the 2008 Panzhihua earthquake. Health emergency and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) education intervention programs were implemented in 2010 and 2011. This serial cross-sectional survey study aimed to examine the immediate and long-term impacts of the Health-EDRM interventions in this remote rural community. The findings demonstrate knowledge improvement in areas of water and sanitation, food and nutrition, and disaster preparedness... read more

Objectives: Accidental risks perception, knowledge and willingness to learn about emergency responses are critical elements in disaster risk reduction. Literature on the relevant topics for public transport safety is limited. The three main study objectives include exploring i) relationship between socio-demographic characteristics with risk perception and anxiety of users of urban public transport system, ii) if a major emergency incident affected confidence and increase anxiety of public transport utilization and iii) how previous first aid training might be associated with response... read more

Introduction: Menstrual health is a sensitive topic that causes gender discrimination and segregation. A focus group conducted in Sindupalchok, Nepal (April 2017) found some women had major knowledge gaps and misconceptions regarding menstrual hygiene practices. Objective: To assess programme effectiveness for addressing menstrual health knowledge gap, promote menstrual hygiene practice, and pain relief. Method: A 3 day health education intervention was conducted in January 2018. Knowledge about the menstruation cycle and period, menstruation-related hygiene practices, and pain alleviation... read more

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) in the elderly remains a challenge in intermediate disease burden areas like Hong Kong. Given a higher TB burden in the elderly and limited impact of current case-finding strategy by patient-initiated pathway, proactive screening approaches for the high-risk group could be optimal and increasingly need targeted economic evaluations. In this study, we examined whether and under what circumstance the screening strategies are cost-effective compared with no screening strategy for the elderly at admission to residential care homes.

Methods

Objective How high temperature affects existing allergic conditions are unclear. This study examines the effects of high temperature on Hong Kong adult populations who have existing allergic symptoms. To explore the health outcomes of non-allergic symptoms, comparison was explored between adults with and without a history of allergic symptoms. Method Two week aster a health wave in 2017, a cross-sectional telephone survey study was conducted in Hong Kong. Socio-demographic information, history of allergic symptoms, non-allergic health symptoms, and self-reported changes of allergic... read more

Background: Previous research has shown winter peaks for both hospitalizations and mortality from HF, but few studies have examined the association between meteorological parameters and HF.
Methods: Daily HF admissions to Hong Kong public hospitals, which cover about 83% of total admissions, and daily HF deaths, were obtained for 2002–2011. Generalized additive (Poisson) regression models were used with daily HF admissions/mortality as outcomes and dailymean temperature, humidity, and wind speed as predictors, while controlling for pollutant levels, time trend, season, day of theweek... read more

Disasters occur almost daily in the world. Because emergencies frequently have no precedent, are highly uncertain, and can be very destructive, improving a country's resilience is an efficient way to reduce risk. In this article, we collected more than 20,000 historical data points from disasters from 207 countries to enable us to calculate the severity of disasters and the danger they pose to countries. In addition, 6 primary indices (disaster, personal attribute, infrastructure, economics, education, and occupation) including 38 secondary influencing factors are considered in analyzing... read more

Remote, rural ethnic-minority communities face greater disaster-related public health risks due to their lack of resources and limited access to health care. The Ethnic Minority Health Project (EMHP) was initiated in 2009 to work with remote, disaster-prone ethnic-minority villages that live in extreme poverty. One of the project’s aims is to develop and evaluate bottom-up health risk reduction efforts in emergency and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM). This article shares project updates and describes field intervention results from the Yi ethnic community of Hongyan village in China... read more

Health and disaster risk reduction are important and necessary components in building a smart city, especially when climate change may increase the frequency of extreme temperatures and the health risks of urban dwellers. However, limited knowledge is available about the best way to disseminate weather warnings and health protection information. This study explores the weather information acquisition patterns of the Hong Kong public and examines the sociodemographic predictors of these patterns to establish the potential public health implications of smart city development. A population-... read more

Background: The Rana Plaza collapse was the global garment industry’s deadliest disaster: killing 1,134 and injuring over 2,500, the incident overwhelmed local capacity and caused great damage, destruction and human suffering. The rescue operation took three weeks, relying on a large portion of untrained and inexperienced volunteers. This incident had numerous long-term physical and mental health consequences for victims. This case study sought to understand how disaster preparedness levels of responders impacted health outcomes. Methods: A comprehensive literature review (including grey... read more

Objective To investigate the prevalence of cold related symptoms and its association with socio-economic factors Background: The impact of the temperature on human health has long been reported. Multi-city studies indicated that population in cities in lower latitude and with mild winter are more valuable to cold-weather. Previous studies were mainly focused on mortality and morbidity due to the availability of the data, while cold-related symptoms are however not well studied. It is important to enhance the understanding of prevalence of cold related symptoms and how it associates with... read more

Objectives: The study aims to identify important predictors on the adoption of various protective behaviors under cold spell in Hong Kong. Methods: This is a randomized population-based cross-sectional telephone survey study. The study was conducted three days after the coldest winter in the past 58 years in January 2016. Eligible participants are Cantonese speakers who are Hong Kong residents aged above 15. Basic demographic data, social-economic status (SES) and questions related to protective measures against cold spell were solicited. Descriptive analysis and stepwise multi-logistic... read more

Study/Objective: To review research trends and evidence in the field of health emergency and disaster risk management ﴾HEDRM﴿, and to provide recommendations for the field moving forward. Background: Health is recognised as an outcome and a goal of disaster risk reduction activities, acknowledged in international agreements such as the International Health Regulations ﴾2005﴿ and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction ﴾2015﴿. H‐EDRM has emerged as an umbrella field which encompasses emergency and disaster medicine, disaster risk reduction ﴾DRR﴿, humanitarian response and health... read more

Study/Objective: To reveal the spatial and temporal pattern of student enrolment in the Public Health Principles in Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response ﴾PHPID﴿ massive open online course ﴾MOOC﴿ and to examine the degree to which socio‐demographic variables can predict the course achievement. Background: The first cohort of PHPID online course was launched by Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response in June 2014. This online course aims to enable students to gain insight and theoretical understanding of the public health... read more

Background: Climate change has increased extreme temperature events. The study aims to examine the community risk awareness and perceptions of temperature warning system in subtropical city in Asia which is rarely studied. Design and data collection: A cross-sectional, self-administrated questionnaire survey on all incoming students of the Faculty of Medicine (both clinical and non-clinical) in the University was conducted in September 2015. Personal backgrounds, knowledge, attitudes and practices towards current extreme temperature warning systems were collected. Ethics approval and... read more

A better understanding of knowledge gaps and global civil societal learning patterns will support the building of “bottom up” disaster resilience through online global accessible education platforms. Through collaborative efforts between Chinese University of Hong Kong and University of Oxford, a free-of-charge 18-hours online course titled Public Health Principles in Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response" was developed by CCOUC. Enrolled students may access all learning materials and activities online within each of the four time-study cohorts.

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is an emerging enterovirus-induced infectious disease for which the environmental risk factors promoting disease circulation remain inconclusive. This study aims to quantify the association of daily weather variation with hospitalizations for HFMD in Hong Kong, a subtropical city in China. METHODS: A time series of daily counts of HFMD public hospital admissions from 2008 through 2011 in Hong Kong was regressed on daily mean temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and total rainfall, using a combination of negative... read more

Background A sound understanding of malaria transmission patterns in the People’s Republic of China (P.R. China) is crucial for designing effective surveillance-response strategies that can guide the national malaria elimination programme (NMEP). Using an established biology-driven model, it is expected that one may design and refine appropriate surveillance-response strategies for different transmission zones, which, in turn, assist the NMEP in the ongoing implementation period (2010–2020) and, potentially, in the post-elimination stage (2020–2050). Methods Environmental data obtained... read more

Objectives: The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of Cold Weather Warning in Hong Kong via evaluation whether such can enhance the adoption of protective measures against cold spell in the community. Methods: This is a randomized population-based cross-sectional telephone survey study. The study was conducted three days after the coldest winter in the past 58 years in January 2016. Eligible participants are Cantonese speakers who are Hong Kong residents aged above 15. Basic demographic data, social-economic status (SES) and questions related to protective measures against cold... read more

Objectives: Some carbon-reducing behaviours are environmental-friendly and good for health. Such co-benefits are promoted since the millennium in Hong Kong (HK). This study aims to found out how the practice of these behaviours may have changed during the past decade in HK. Methods: This 2-stage sequential randomized cross-sectional and population-based telephone survey collected data in 2008 and 2016. Six kinds of behaviours (less electricity, less unnecessary package, less A/C, less meat, more walk/cycling, and more organic food) were investigated. The respondents self-reported their... read more

Objectives: There is limited evidence on urban Asian communities’ disaster risk perceptions and household level preparedness. Hong Kong is characterized by high population density, and is susceptible to large-scale natural disasters and health crises such as typhoons, fires and infectious disease outbreaks. This research paper investigates the rates and predictors of urban community disaster risk perception, awareness and preparedness, at individual and household levels. Methods: A randomized cross-sectional, population-based telephone survey study was conducted among the Cantonese-... read more

We conducted a population telephone survey in Hong Kong during the second wave of influenza A/H7N9 outbreak in 2014. Among the respondents, 50.5% of the respondents would like to accept A/H7N9 vaccination in future. Respondents had poor knowledge of A/H7N9 influenza and vaccines. More than 60% of respondents mixed up seasonal influenza this year and A/H7N9 influenza. Results show that socio-demographic factors were all independent of the vaccine uptake willingness while anxiety level and vaccine history were the main affecting factors. Vaccine promotion strategies may focus on influenza... read more

Background: Hong Kong is an urban Asian community connected to mainland China characterized by a very high population density. Since SARS epidemic in 2003, the city had experiences several major epidemic risks but how general community might react to the repeated infectious diseases health risks are not studied. In 2013, imported human H7N9 influenza infected cases from China have been reported. Our study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) concerning A/H7N9 among Hong Kong general population during the second wave of the pandemic preparedness Methods: A cross-... read more

Study/Objective 1. To understand factors that associated with better online learning outcome. 2. To discuss lessons learnt for future MOOC development for improving community disaster literacy and resilience. Background Resilience is the ability that to anticipate, withstand, respond and recovery from adverse situation. Improved public awareness and knowledge is a preventive measure to reduce adverse health impact of disaster and enhance community resilience. Collaboration Centre of CUHK and Oxford University for Disaster and Humanitarian Response (CCOUC) has been developed and launched an... read more

Study/Objective The project aims to explore community disaster risk perception and to evaluate the impact of disaster preparedness health intervention in Yiminority community in China. Background LiangShan Yi Autonomous Prefecture is one of the disasterprone area in Sichuan province, China. Majority of people belongs to Yiminority and live in rural mountainous area with highly susceptible to multiple natural disasters. A major flood occurred on August 31st 2012 at Hongyan Village, LiangShan Prefecture and had affected 218,000 local residents with 13,300 households collapsed. A postflooding... read more

Introduction: In 2011, north-eastern Japan was struck by ‘a triple disaster’ with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, tsunamis and nuclear plants meltdown that caused nearly 20,000 deaths. Despite of the pre-event community disaster preparedness and drills, mortalities vary among disaster affected schools. This qualitative case study aims to identify factors that were associated with positive health outcomes.

Study/Objective To explore the capacity building strategy for disaster preparedness through building healthliterate village in rural China. Background Health risk literacy is an important asset for capacity building and a key attribute of the development of a healthy village, a similar project as the Healthy City programme initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1989. However, not much research has been conducted since then for developing health literate villages in rural settings in China. As such, a rural Chinese village is selected to explore the development of a health... read more

Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions affecting both children and adults. Examining the health effects of environmental triggers such as temperature variation may have implications for maintenance of asthma control and prevention. We hypothesized that large diurnal temperature range (DTR) might be a source of additional environmental stress and therefore a risk factor for asthma exacerbation. Daily meteorological data, air pollution concentrations and emergency hospital admissions for asthma from 2004 to 2011 in Hong Kong were collected. Poisson regression models were used to... read more

This study aims to quantitatively summarize the association between night shift work and the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), with special reference to the dose–response relationship with years of night shift work. We systematically searched all observational studies published in English on PubMed and Embase from 1971 to 2013. We extracted effect measures (relative risk, RR; or odd ratio, OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) from individual studies to generate pooled results using meta-analysis approach. Pooled RR was calculated using random- or fixed-effect model. Downs and Black scale... read more

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of childhood obesity among adolescents has been rapidly rising in Mainland China in recent decades, especially in urban and rich areas. There is an urgent need to develop effective interventions to prevent childhood obesity. Limited data regarding adolescent overweight prevention in China are available. Thus, we developed a school-based intervention with the aim of reducing excess body weight in children. This report described the study design. METHODS/DESIGN: We designed a cluster randomized controlled trial in 8 randomly selected urban primary schools between... read more

Objectives: There is limited evidence on perceptions of disaster risk and household level preparedness among urban Asian communities. Hong Kong is characterized by high population density, and is susceptible to large-scale natural disasters and health crises such as typhoons, fires and infectious disease outbreaks. This research paper investigates the rates and predictors of urban community disaster risk perception, awareness and preparedness at individual and household levels. Methods: A randomized cross-sectional, population-based telephone survey study was conducted among the Cantonese-... read more

Four levels of pre-travel health preparations were defined to allow the measurement of general travel health preparations by the traveling public. A cross-sectional survey of 770 travelers using Hong Kong International Airport was conducted. Important gaps were found in the self-preparation domain. Length of travel was the only factor associated with higher levels of health preparations after adjusting for potential confounders. Targeted health education should be considered to improve health risk perceptions among travelers in Hong Kong and other similar metropolitan cities that are... read more

A deeper understanding of extreme hot weather are needed in cities sensitive to heat effects, an investigation was done in the tropical town of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Its 11 districts were divided into three climatic classes varying from high urban heat, low levels of green space and lack of proximity to water bodies to low urban heat, adequate green space and proximity to water bodies. Daily data on natural mortality, meteorological variables, and pollutants from May-October 1999-2008 were analysed using generalised additive models for the time-series data.

We read with interest the recent Editorial on improving the health response to humanitarian crises (June 1, p 1878). Communities worldwide face increasing threats from a myriad of hazards, so evidence-based advancements in humanitarian assistance are welcomed......

Introduction: Heatwaves have a clear impact on society, including a rise in mortality and morbidity. The aim of fans in a heatwave is to increase heat loss by increasing efficiency of all normal methods of heat loss – but particularly by evaporation and convection methods. There has been little comparative, intervention research on the physiological effects of electric fans. A Cochrane systematic review was undertaken to determine whether the use of electric fans contributes or impedes heat loss at high ambient temperatures. Results would have implications for policies such as the Heatwave... read more

Introduction: A major flood occurred in Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture on 31st August 2012. The disaster has caused massive damage to the local community. Liangshan Prefecture has the largest population of Yi minority in China, and ethnic minority groups like Yi generally attain lower educational and economical status than the Han counterparts. Limited is known in regarding its health impact and post disaster response, this paper described and examined the impact and the community preparedness in the recent forgotten disaster. Methodology: A cross sectional household survey was conducted... read more

Little is known about the health impact of air pollution on children's cardiovascular health. A cross-sectional study was conducted and data was analysed in 2048 Chinese schoolchildren (aged 8–10 years) in three districts of Hong Kong to examine the association between exposure to outdoor air pollution and cardiorespiratory fitness. Annual means of ambient PM10, SO2, NO2 and O3 from 1996 to 2003 were used to estimate individual exposure of the subjects. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured for maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), predicted by the multistage fitness test (MFT). Height and... read more

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and lung function among Chinese schoolchildren in Southern China (Hong Kong). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 3168 schoolchildren (aged 8-10 years) in 3 districts in Hong Kong. Annual means of ambient PM10 (particulate matter <10 µm), SO2, NO2 and O3 from 1996 to 2003 were used to estimate the individual exposure of the subjects. Children's lung function was measured for forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of... read more

The recent Super Typhoon Haiyan, the third category 5 typhoon to strike the Philippines since 2010, tore through Tacloban in the province of Leyte and affected about 13 million people; only 4 weeks after Super Typhoon Usagi affected more than 2.7 million people in southern China. With increasing numbers of disasters related to climate change (from 99 in 1980 to 269 in 2011), Asia is likely to be hit by more typhoons with stronger intensity in the coming decades......

BACKGROUND: Several previous studies examined the association between acute myocardial infarction (AMI) incidence and temperature and/or air pollution. Results of these studies have been inconsistent and few studies have been done in cities with sub-tropical or tropical climates. METHODS: Daily data on AMI hospitalizations, mean temperature and humidity, and pollutants, were collected for 2000-2009 for three warm-climate Asian cities. Poisson Generalized Additive Models were used to regress daily AMI counts on temperature, humidity, and pollutants while controlling for day of the week,... read more

研究证实受灾地区的当地居民是发生灾害时能够最早做出反应的潜在救援力量，可以在黄金时间内施以救助，从而有效地降低灾害招致的人员伤亡。因次，在易受灾灾区对当地居民进行普及教育，提供与灾害救援有关的基本知识和技能，可以最大的发挥这一潜力。Angus在1993年提出“八项急救的基本步骤”的建议，以期达到在社区居民中有效普及灾难教育的目的。以Angus的建议为框架，以5•12汶川大地震为例，本文总结了汶川大地震的经验和教训，探讨了社区健康工作者在灾害发生时应当扮演的角色，从而尽可能地降低灾害对人类生命和健康的影响。

Previous studies examining daily temperature and stroke incidence have given conflicting results. We undertook this retrospective study of all stroke admissions in those aged 35 years old and above to Hong Kong public hospitals from 1999 through 2006 in order to better understand the effects of meteorological conditions on stroke risk in a subtropical setting. We used Poisson Generalized Additive Models with daily hemorrhagic (HS) and ischemic stroke (IS) counts separately as outcomes, and daily mean temperature, humidity, solar radiation, rainfall, air pressure, pollutants, flu... read more

BACKGROUND Heatwaves are hot weather events, which breach regional or national thresholds, that last for several days. They are likely to occur with increasing frequency in some parts of the world. The potential consequences were illustrated in Europe in August 2003 when there were an estimated 30,000 excess deaths due to a heatwave. Electric fans might be used with the intention of reducing the adverse health effects of a heatwave. Fans do not cool the ambient air but can be used to draw in cooler air from outside when placed at an open window. The aim of the fans would be to increase... read more

China has one of the countries with highest occurrence of disasters and disasters are disproportionately affecting rural area of China where ethnic minorities are inhibiting. Mixed methods of studies were conducted in rural Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Hainan province of China to understand the mental health impact and coping after natural disasters. Standardized quantitative questionnaires and over 20 focus groups were conducted among ethnic minority groups including Tai, Naxi, Li, Jiang and Hui affected by earthquake, flooding, mudslide, rain storm and snow storm. Validated psychological... read more

Background Current measures for breast cancer prevention and options for treatment adopted in Hong Kong are mainly based on research data and clinical evidence from overseas. It is essential to establish a cancer-specific registry to monitor the status of breast cancer in Hong Kong. Objectives We summarized the current status of breast cancer in Hong Kong based on the data collected from Hong Kong Breast Cancer Registry (HKBCR). Methods Prevalent and newly diagnosed breast cancers (including in situ and invasive breast cancers) were registered in the HKBCR. Information on patient... read more

Gaps in training have been identified from reviews of the experiences of prehospital medical personnel faced with previous disasters like the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. It would be useful to identify and develop standardised training and educational core competencies in pre-hospital disaster training adapted to the local situation and health system in China. This paper identified six areas of training needs for responders to enhance their effectiveness in disaster settings. Two levels of training for frontline first responders and disaster response managers may be the best approach to... read more

Background Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters in China. With climate change, the Chinese communities will further increase their vulnerabilities to extreme weather events. In order to mitigate disaster risk, a better understanding of flood disaster profile and human health impact of floods in China will provide evidence to support the development of interventions to facilitate recovery of affected population in field setting. The study objective is to summarize update knowledge of health impact of floods in China. Flood assessing methodologies and mapping techniques will... read more

Background: Globally, China is the most natural disaster prone country and its remote area population faces the highest natural disaster risk. These communities are often characterized by ethnic minority based, in extreme poverty. In China, non-Han Chinese constitutes to 8.4% of her population and generally fare worse in economic status than the Han majority. Since 2009, the health education team from the School of Public Health has been to rural villages in China to deliver health education. Four key principles of site selection include: 1. geographic remoteness, 2. ethnic minority based... read more

Background: Disaster risk literacy refers to the ability to identify, understand, interpret and communicate disaster risk-related information. Whilst literature review indicates that health literacy is directly associated with health outcomes, there is currently a literature gap on the predictors of disaster health risk literacy and how risk literacy might be associated with the uptake of first aid trainings for better community disaster preparedness.

Remote rural communities are often more vulnerable to health risk and have worse health outcomes than urban population. Whilst World Health Organization's “Healthy Village” initiatives have been implemented in Africa and Eastern Mediterranean region, no experience has been reported in the Western Pacific region or in China. A health need assessment was carried out in March 2009 to identify health needs and for situation analysis at Maan Village of Xinan Township at Hiuli County, Liangshan, Sichuan. Findings indicated the ethnic minority population in the area had poor health outcomes and... read more

Although China has been known for its high frequency and human toll resulting from natural disasters, limited information is available to understand the human impact of its technological disasters (TD). This study provides a time trend analysis of the TD-induced injuries and fatalities since 1979 in mainland China. Through reviewing available academic literature and the examination of two public accessible databases, descriptive analysis of TD epidemiological profile in China was conducted by Emergency Events Database of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels... read more

China has one of the countries with highest occurrence of disasters and disasters are disproportionately affecting rural area of China where ethnic minorities are inhibiting. Mixed methods of studies were conducted in rural Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Hainan province of China to understand the mental health impact and coping after natural disasters. Standardized quantitative questionnaires and over 20 focus groups were conducted among ethnic minority groups including Tai, Naxi, Li, Jiang and Hui affected by earthquake, flooding, mudslide, rain storm and snow storm. Validated psychological... read more

Disaster could greatly affect physical, psychological and social health of people affected. However, current crisis intervention protocols after natural or man-made disasters often overlook the psychosocial impact of crisis on victims. In its executive board meeting in 2005, WHO has called for action in implementing programs that can repair the psychological damage of war, conflict and natural disasters.

Psychological First Aid (PFA) has become the choice of mental health intervention and integration with the current disaster relief protocols during emergencies by the Institute of Medicine, NIMH and the WHO. It can be used during or immediately after disaster. People without mental health specialized training, including public health practitioners and emergency responders can learn and apply to everyone in need. Whilst being used extensively, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of PFA and its field applicability. A prospective randomized controlled study. 800 emergency medical... read more

Speed and accuracy are major considerations in triage in emergency field settings. Traditional physical examination techniques often are limited in detecting the true nature and full extent of internal visceral injuries, for which delayed recognition and treatment may lead to catastrophic results. Ultrasound has a well-established role in the rapid initial assessment of intraabdominal pathologies, including trauma, and contemporary portable ultrasound machines are available for use in the field. This presentation will introduce the basic principles of diagnostic ultrasound and its use in... read more

The negative impact of extreme temperatures on health is well-established. Individual help-seeking behavior, however, may mitigate the extent of morbidity and mortality during elevated temperatures. This study examines individual help-seeking behavior during periods of elevated temperatures among a Chinese population. Help-seeking patterns and factors that influence behavior will be identified so that vulnerable subgroups may be targeted for health protection during heat crises. A retrospective time-series Poisson generalized additive model analysis, using meteorological data of Hong Kong... read more

Natural disasters cannot be prevented but their human impact can be mitigated. Effective medical and public health mitigation and responses require multidisciplinary efforts and appropriate training. Whilst Asia is currently ranked as the most natural disaster prone area globally, limited disaster medical and public health response training opportunities are available in the region. Our paper reports efforts to identify the training gaps and ways to fill them to prepare frontline practitioners and academic researchers in disaster and medical humanitarian emergency relief efforts in Asia.... read more

In China, water resources are both inadequate and unevenly distributed. Professor Emily Chan and Professor Sian Griffiths from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, discuss the impact of water quantity, quality, cost and development on public health in China......

OBJECTIVES: No published study, to date, has examined the characteristics and health outcomes of natural disaster-affected populations in unofficial rural self-settled internally displaced camps. By examining resident profiles in various unofficial rural displaced settlements after the 2005 Kashmir, Pakistan earthquake, this study aims to (i) describe the demographic and epidemiological characteristics of residents, (ii) compare their health outcomes with those of residents in official displaced camps, and (iii) highlight health needs and discuss implications for future disaster health... read more

BACKGROUND: Over the last 100 years, China has experienced the world's three most fatal earthquakes. The Sichuan Earthquake in May 2008 once again reminded us of the huge human toll geological disaster can lead to. METHODS: In order to learn lessons about the impact of earthquakes on health in China during the past century, we conducted a bilingual literature search of the publicly available health-related disaster databases published between 1906 and 2007. RESULTS: Our search found that research was limited and there were major gaps in the published literature about the impact on health... read more

Introduction: On 08 October 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, struck Pakistan's autonomous state of Kashmir and part of Indian-administrated Kashmir. The official death toll in Pakistan was 79,000, and nearly 1,400 in Kashmir. This study reports the findings of a three-week health needs assessment to understand the needs of rural, older people postearthquake. This study was conducted in February 2006 in the Neelum Valley of Kashmir, Pakistan, four months after the earthquake. Hypothesis: During emergency relief, the vulnerability and health needs of older people in... read more

Injury is a major global disease burden for the twenty-first century. There are, however, few studies of unintentional household injury in Asian urban settings where living environments are characterized by extremely compact, high-living-density, multistory apartments. This study investigated the association between nonfatal unintentional household injuries with the resident's sociodemographic attributes and household characteristics in Hong Kong, the city with the world's highest population density. A cross-sectional retrospective recall study was conducted in May 2007 using a random... read more

Although older people may be recognized as a vulnerable group post-natural disasters, their particular needs are rarely met by the providers of emergency services. Studies about older people's health needs post disasters in the South East Asia Tsunami, Kashmir, Pakistan, China, and United States has revealed the lack of concern for older people's health needs. Recent study of older people's health needs post the Kashmir Pakistan earthquake (2005) found older peoples' health needs were masked within the general population. This survey study examines the providers' perceptions of older... read more

BACKGROUND Malaria is a major public health burden in the tropics with the potential to significantly increase in response to climate change. Analyses of data from the recent past can elucidate how short-term variations in weather factors affect malaria transmission. This study explored the impact of climate variability on the transmission of malaria in the tropical rain forest area of Mengla County, south-west China. METHODS Ecological time-series analysis was performed on data collected between 1971 and 1999. Auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were used to evaluate... read more

News stories about the contamination of milk with melamine in China first emerged on Sept 11, 2008, and the situation has since become an international health scare. Melamine (also known as tripolycyanamide) is an industrial chemical in the production of melamine resins, which are used in laminates, glues, adhesives, and plastics. When added to milk, melamine increases the nitrogen concentration, which suggests a false increase in protein concentration. Melamine has low oral acute toxicity but excessive exposure in animals causes renal stones. When consumed by human beings, babies and... read more

This study investigates the epidemiological characteristics of non-fatal unintentional household injuries in Hong Kong, the city with the world's highest population density. A population-based, cross-sectional, random telephone survey was conducted with a modified Chinese WHO injury and violence survey questionnarie in May 2007. Descriptive and univariate analysis was conducted to highlight the associated factors. The prevalence of all non-fatal unintentional home injuries in the preceding year was 40.2%. Contusion/crushing injuries, open wounds and burn-related scalds were the most... read more

Emily Y Y Chan took part in the relief effort after the Sichuan earthquake in May. She reports on the short-term needs of those affected and the medical and public-health challenges that will be faced by the Chinese population as rehabilitation and reconstruction continues......

Although natural disasters may cause massive loss of human life and destruction of resources, they also present affected populations with a rare opportunity to access external resources. Nevertheless, many post-disaster medical relief intervention programmes only focus on the provision of acute medical services and the control of communicable diseases. Currently, no specific study has examined why chronic medical needs seem to be insufficiently addressed in disaster relief interventions. This paper review current knowledge about how natural disasters affect people with chronic medical... read more