Medical Rehabilitation in disaster relief: Towards a new perspective
Bhasker Amatya, Mary Galea, Jianan Li, Fary Khan
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, 34-54 Poplar Road Parkville, Melbourne VIC 3052, Australia. E-mail: Bhasker.Amatya@mh.org.au
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2250
Lay Abstract
With the increasing frequency of natural disasters and an upsurge in survivors with disabling injuries, there is now greater focus on the importance of rehabilitation services in disaster management. There is strong consensus amongst global health authorities that medical rehabilitation should be initiated in the immediate emergency response phase, and continued in the community over the longer-term. In the last decade, significant developments in international, regional and national collaboration and management capacities in disaster management have occurred. Unfortunately, major disparities amongst countries still exist, and those with a high disaster risk tend to have low coping and management capacity.
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