The AAP and children in disaster areas
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), an organization of 60,000 pediatricians from over 60 countries worldwide, is dedicated to the well-being of children. The AAP is providing assistance to organizations responding to disasters. As many of the victims of humanitarian emergencies are children, the AAP recognizes the importance of pediatric expertise in responding to the needs of children in these situations. If you would like to learn about being involved with the CHILDisaster Network please go to http://www.aap.org/disaster/
The American Academy of Pediatrics Disaster Preparedness Advisory Council has identified some ideas for planning and involvement.
In 2006, the AAP Board of Directors identified disaster preparedness as 1 of 7 priority issues requiring special attention and resources.
The AAP appointed the Disaster Preparedness Advisory Council (DPAC) in May 2007 to establish a focused effort within the AAP to
- Develop and implement a 3-5 year AAP Strategic Action Plan for Disaster Preparedness
- Oversee/support AAP disaster preparedness initiatives while working collaboratively with AAP committees, sections, and councils and key partner organizations; and
- Strengthen AAP advocacy and policy efforts, which include responding to inquiries as appropriate, identifying opportunities for advocacy such as providing congressional testimony and offering comments on federal regulations, and mobilizing an AAP Contact Network.
Check out the National Dialogue on Preparedness to share your ideas on disaster preparedness.
Relief Web is a project of the United National Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This website is good for finding out what is going on politically and in disaster relief work at most of the sites where UN personnel are working around the world.
Health consequences of war
Three of the included 34 sites from U. WA that give detailed health data include:
Iraqi Body Count http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ a running tally of the Iraqi civilian body count, compiled with a minimum and maximum number gleaned from online news sources.
Collateral Damage: the health and environmental costs of war on Iraq http://www.mapw.org.au/iraq/2002/ippnwiraq/MedAct_report_Iraq_12_11.html Report by Medact - an affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. Much of the fall 2003 SOICH outline on predictions of health effects from a war in Iraq were taken from this article. To see Medact’s updated report “Continuing Collateral Damage” from November 2003 as a PDF from www.medact.org .
