News - New team to tackle disease
Source: British Red Cross Society - UK
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A new international emergency response team set up by the British Red Cross aims to save lives by dramatically reducing disease from poor sanitation after a disaster.The new Mass Sanitation Unit (MSU) will provide sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion for up to 20,000 people for a maximum of four months after an emergency.A disaster often claims
lives in two waves. The first wave is from the immediate impact of the earthquake, hurricane or flood; the second, and often less publicised, from poor sanitation in the aftermath of a disaster. The
overall aim is to reduce the transmission of diarrhoeal and other sanitation-related disease.The MSU will be operational in the immediate aftermath of a crisis, just as the British Red Cross can
mobilise a logistics response unit within 24 hours of a disaster.
The British Red Cross has trained a total of 16 people for the unit. From this a four-person team will be on-call in the event of an emergency. The teams consist of a sanitation engineer, a public health delegate, team leader and team administrator. They will recruit and manage some 50 local staff and Red Cross or Red Crescent volunteers at the scene of an emergency who will assist with construction and daily management of the facilities.Hygiene promotionFollowing the Pakistan earthquake in October 2005, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies constructed a total of 1,000 latrines and 200 rural bathrooms (constructed in steel and wood) in Balakot and Batagram.The Federation, British Red Cross and Pakistan Red Crescent staff and volunteers worked with the communities to promote hygiene among a total of 70,000 people, which helped reduce the incidence of disease following the disaster.Justin Dell, MSU programme officer, said: "It was clear that disease and death immediately after a disaster are often related to poor or destroyed sanitation facilities linked to an erosion of good hygiene practice as a consequence of the disaster. The Federation approached the British Red Cross in 2004 to develop the mass sanitation unit and this is the result of careful research and planning." [15 Feb 2007]
The British Red Cross has trained a total of 16 people for the unit. From this a four-person team will be on-call in the event of an emergency. The teams consist of a sanitation engineer, a public health delegate, team leader and team administrator. They will recruit and manage some 50 local staff and Red Cross or Red Crescent volunteers at the scene of an emergency who will assist with construction and daily management of the facilities.Hygiene promotionFollowing the Pakistan earthquake in October 2005, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies constructed a total of 1,000 latrines and 200 rural bathrooms (constructed in steel and wood) in Balakot and Batagram.The Federation, British Red Cross and Pakistan Red Crescent staff and volunteers worked with the communities to promote hygiene among a total of 70,000 people, which helped reduce the incidence of disease following the disaster.Justin Dell, MSU programme officer, said: "It was clear that disease and death immediately after a disaster are often related to poor or destroyed sanitation facilities linked to an erosion of good hygiene practice as a consequence of the disaster. The Federation approached the British Red Cross in 2004 to develop the mass sanitation unit and this is the result of careful research and planning." [15 Feb 2007]
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