Search results for " risk reduction"
showing 10 items of 102 documents
Climate Change and Disasters
2017
Ideas and approaches proven successful within disaster risk reduction (DRR) literature and practice are either bypassed or inadequately considered by contemporary climate change work. This chapter explores the intersections between climate change and hazards, vulnerability, and risk, looking at climate change as both a hazard driver and a hazard inhibitor. The implications of the narrow interpretations of vulnerability employed in climate change work are examined, as well as the ways in which climate change has come to act as a scapegoat for issues, events, and processes caused by hazard-independent factors. The chapter formulates a case for climate change adaptation (CCA) to be seen as a s…
The impact on disaster governance of the intersection of environmental hazards, border conflict and disaster responses in Ladakh, India
2018
Abstract The Indian border region of Ladakh, in Jammu and Kashmir State, has a sensitive Himalayan ecosystem and has experienced natural hazards and disasters of varying scales over the decades. Ladakh is also situated on a fault-line of multiple tensions, including ongoing border disagreements and intermittent conflict with China and Pakistan. The Indian army has thus become a permanent fixture in the region. This paper examines the implications of the intersection of these environmental and security factors for disaster governance in the region. Using Social Domains theory, the paper argues first, that a hazard-centred paradigm of ‘universal’ disaster science emerges from the colonial per…
Connecting theories of cascading disasters and disaster diplomacy
2018
Abstract Disaster diplomacy examines how and why disaster-related activities (disaster risk reduction and post-disaster actions) do and do not influence peace and conflict processes, especially whether or not a causal chain can be established between dealing with disaster risk or a disaster and outcomes in peace or conflict. Cascading disasters might provide a useful theoretical framing for mapping out causal pathways for disaster diplomacy. In conceptually exploring the intersection between disaster diplomacy and cascading disasters, this paper concludes that both disaster diplomacy and cascading disasters have limitations because they try to develop focused causal chains which, when exami…
The role of social perception in disaster risk reduction: Beliefs, perception, and attitudes regarding flood disasters in communities along the Volta…
2017
Abstract People's perceptions of natural, spiritual, and social phenomena are socially constructed. Social perception is important because it helps people to make sense of the physical and social world and therein interact with it. Earlier research specializing in the study of human behaviour has emphasized a linkage between people's perceptions and their behaviour. In this article, the authors employ a similar theory with the intent of proposing a theoretical framework that examines the factors that influence people's perception and attitude (mitigation and response) towards the hazards they face. This discussion is done on the premise of “culture”, “experiences” and “disaster risk reducti…
Helices of disaster memory: How forgetting and remembering influence tropical cyclone response in Mauritius
2020
Abstract Tropical cyclones have had a considerable impact on Mauritius. Large cyclones are relatively rare, and in popular imagination are thought to hit Mauritius every 15 years. Yet it has been over 25 years since the last cyclone widely considered as ‘significant’. Critically, there is little known about the role of memory in responses to cyclones and details regarding responses to past cyclones in Mauritian history are scant. This article examines past experiences and impacts of cyclones in Mauritius, as well as contemporary perceptions of cyclone vulnerability and memories of historical cyclones. The analysis draws on both community interviews and archival research conducted in Mauriti…
Traits and risk factors of post-disaster infectious disease outbreaks: a systematic review.
2021
AbstractInfectious disease outbreaks are increasingly recognised as events that exacerbate impacts or prolong recovery following disasters. Yet, our understanding of the frequency, geography, characteristics and risk factors of post-disaster disease outbreaks globally is lacking. This limits the extent to which disease outbreak risks can be prepared for, monitored and responded to following disasters. Here, we conducted a global systematic review of post-disaster outbreaks and found that outbreaks linked to conflicts and hydrological events were most frequently reported, and most often caused by bacterial and water-borne agents. Lack of adequate WASH facilities and poor housing were commonl…
Relative risk rather than absolute risk reduction should be preferred to sensitise the public to preventive actions.
2021
We thank Lawrence and colleagues1 for their interest in our work,2 about which they raised some comments as the need of expressing results in absolute rather than relative risks. As they appropriately mentioned in their correspondence, absolute risk is an important parameter for the estimation of the effect of an intervention and must sometimes be preferred to relative risk. However, when discussing with health professionals and policymakers, using absolute risk reductions, expressed as percentages, may incorrectly lead to an intervention being considered unnecessary. As example, what would be the point of reducing by 30% the occurrence of an event affecting 2% of the population? This is ex…
Preventive Effect of Cow's Milk Fermented with Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 on Common Infectious Diseases in Children: A Multicenter Randomized Co…
2017
Background: Fermented foods have been proposed to prevent common infectious diseases (CIDs) in children attending day care or preschool. Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of dietary supplementation with cow’s skim milk fermented with the probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74 in reducing CIDs in children attending day care or preschool. Methods: Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial on healthy children (aged 12–48 months) consuming daily 7 grams of cow’s skim milk fermented with L. paracasei CBA L74 (group A), or placebo (maltodextrins group B) attending day care or preschool during the winter season. The main outcome was the proportion of children who exp…
Prospective risk of stillbirth and neonatal complications in twin pregnancies: systematic review and meta-analysis
2016
Twin pregnancies are at increased risk of stillbirth. Uncomplicated twin pregnancies are commonly delivered earlier to prevent stillbirth; however, there is a risk of neonatal complications associated with being born prior to 39 weeks’ gestation. The optimal gestational age for delivery in twin pregnancies is unknown and likely varies by chorionicity. The present study aimed to determine the prospective risk of stillbirth in women with uncomplicated monochorionic and dichorionic twin pregnancies, and neonatal mortality risks, when delivered beyond 34 weeks of gestation. Data on twin pregnancies that reported rates of stillbirth were obtained from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library. Separ…
Changes in life expectancy for cancer patients over time since diagnosis
2019
Highlights • Research question: how cancer impacts on LE changes during patients’ entire life • LE increased in patients surviving the first years and decreasing thereafter. • Patients’ LE in the end approached but seldom reached the general population’s LE. • This method describes when cancer survivors’ excess risk of death became negligible. • Life expectancy indicator is easy to be understood and interpreted by patients.