National Strategic Plan for the Disaster Risk Management for Health (2020-2024) .

This National Strategic Plan on Disaster Risk Management for Health (2020-2024) is a cross-sectorial policy document. It outlines the ways by which the Royal Government of Cambodia’s intends to improve and enhance the emergency management of the health risks due to natural hazard. The goal of the National Strategic Plan is: the lives and wellbeing of the population in Cambodia are protected from the impact of disasters by appropriate public health activities of primary (Mitigation), secondary (Response) and tertiary (Recovery) prevention.
Specific objective is identified as: Cambodia’s Health sector has sufficient capacities for disaster risk reduction, so to limit the population’s exposure to some hazards, to increase the resilience of communities’ and health care delivery systems, and to buffer any adverse consequences of emergencies or disasters. The Plan focuses on natural hazards, with special focus on floods, drought and storms. Considering that all disasters have a cost in terms of deaths and suffering, and have additional impacts on public health due to poverty, hunger, unemployment, displacement and migration, that in turn increase the people’s, and the Country’s, vulnerability to renewed disasters, the Plan adopts an “All-Hazards Approach” to health emergency risk management. The Plan recognizes complementarities and synergies with other initiatives aimed at detecting and responding to other events and emergencies of public health interest, primarily epidemics of infectious diseases.
Activities in governance, policy and coordination are proposed, including: Strengthen Disaster Management Mechanisms in the health sector; Develop a National Policy on Disaster Risk Management for health; Develop Guidelines for Developing a Sub-national Disaster Response plan; etc. Activities in information and knowledge management are proposed, including: Update of the map of public health facilities; Identify the high-risk areas and areas with low coverage access to health services; Establish and train a working-team (focal point) for the quick assessment for Health; etc. Activities on readiness for health service delivery include: Re-functioning the " Safety Hospital " Program which focusing on high risk areas; Re-define the Referral and Readiness Systems in all Capital and Provinces; etc. In terms of adequate resources (human resources, supplies and finance), activities include: Provide Disaster Risk Management training to health staff at all levels; Identify high-risk areas for risk reduction support in collaboration with communities, NGOs and the private sector; Plan a contingency budget for emergency response which is integrated in the Annual Operational Plans; etc.