Health-Related Relief in the Former Yugoslavia: Needs, Demands, and Supplies
Correspondence:
Margareta Rubin, MD
Socialstyrelsen, The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare
Department of Emergency and Disaster Planning
Stockholm, Sweden
Email: margareta.rubin@chello.se
Presented in part at the Congress for Quality Control of Disaster Responses, Nordic School of Public Health, Gothenburg, Sweden, 03-05 March 1997 and at workshops conducted by the World Health Organization and Mèdicins sans Frontières in 1995.
Keywords: aid; assessment; assistance; demands; disaster; materials; need; non-governmental organizations; personnel; supplies; workers
Abbreviations:
IFW = international field workers
IR = international representatives of humanitarian organization
MSF = Mèdicins sans Frontières
NGO = non-governmental organizations
UN = United Nations
UNICEF = United Nations Childrens Fund
UNPAs = United Nations Protected Areas
UNPROFOR = United Nations Protection Forces
WHO = World Health Organization
Supported in part by the World Health Organization and Mèdicins sans Frontières
Abstract
Introduction: Many organizations rally to areas to provide assistance to a population during a disaster. Little is known about the ability of the materials and services provided to meet the actual needs and demands of the affected population. This study sought to identify the perceptions of representatives of the international organizations providing this aid, the international workers involved with the delivery of this aid, the workers who were employed locally by the international organizations, the recipients, and the local authorities. This study sought to identify the perceptions of these personnel relative to the adequacies of the supplies in meeting the needs and demands of the population during and following the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Methods: Structured interviews were conducted with representatives of international organizations and workers providing aid and with locally employed workers, recipients of the assistance, and the authorities of the areas involved. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to assist in the analysis of the data.
Results: Eighty-eight interviews were conducted. A total of 246 organizations were identified as providing assistance within the area, and 54% were involved with health-related activities including: 1) the provision of medications; 2) public health measures; and 3) medical equipment or parts for the same. Internationals believed that a higher proportion of the needs were being met by the assistance (73.4 ±16.4%) than did the nationals (52.1 ±23.3%; p <0.001). All groups believed that approximately 50% of the demands of the affected population were being addressed. However, 87% of the international interviewees believed that the affected population was requesting more than it actually needed.
While 27% of the international participants believed that 25% of what was provided was unusable, 80% of the recipients felt that 25% of the provisions were not usable. Whereas two-thirds of the international participants believed that 25% of the demands for assistance by the affected community could not be justified, only 20% of the recipients and authorities believed 25% of the demands were unjustified.
Conclusions: Many organizations are involved in the provision of medical assistance during a disaster. However, international organizations and workers believe their efforts are more effective than do the recipients.
Rubin M, Heuvelmans JHA, Tomic-Cica A, Birnbaum ML: Health-related relief in the former Yugoslavia: Needs, demands, and supplies. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 2000;15(1):1-11.