Rapid health assessments of evacuation centres in areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan

Typhoon Haiyan caused thousands of deaths and catastrophic destruction, leaving many homeless in Region 8 of the Philippines. A team from the Philippine Field Epidemiology Training Program conducted a rapid health assessment survey of evacuation centres severely affected by Haiyan.

A descriptive study was conducted whereby a convenience sample of evacuation centres were assessed on the number of toilets per evacuee, sanitation, drinking-water, food supply source and medical services.

Of the 20 evacuation centres assessed, none had a designated manager. Most were located in schools (70%) with the estimated number of evacuees ranging from 15 to 5000 per centre. Only four (20%) met the World Health Organization standard for number of toilets per evacuee; none of the large evacuation centres had even half the recommended number of toilets. All of the evacuation centres had available drinking-water. None of the evacuation centres had garbage collection, vector control activities or standby medical teams. Fourteen (70%) evacuation centres had onsite vaccination activities for measles, tetanus and polio virus. Many evacuation centres were overcrowded.

Evacuation centres are needed in almost every disaster. They should be safely located and equipped with the required amenities. In disaster-prone areas such as the Philippines, schools and community centres should not be designated as evacuation centres unless they are equipped with adequate sanitation services.