Climate change is causing havoc all over the world. Cyclonic storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, storm surge, draught, earthquakes, wildfires and so on. Compounding all of these we have man made catastrophes in some parts of the world. All of these produces displacements of people which will inevitably result in many hazards for the affected people. Being medical doctors, we will look at it from the health point of view.
Health hazards arising out of human migration, displacement ranges from those affecting the persons directly – physical trauma, injuries, bites and stings from insects, reptiles, rodents and diseases from other animals. In addition, there will inevitably be psychological impacts like stress or what we may call psychosocial stress. Indirectly the hazards may also arise from disturbances of ecosystems causing failures of farms and farm products, live stocks, fisheries, etc. which will come to impact on the people through nutritional effects.
Being medical doctors and members of the community in which we live, we should also plan and prepare to meet the possible needs of affected people as much as we can. Our medical clinics, dispensaries, hospitals should be prepared to meet the possible challenges that may arise. Medicines like antibiotics, infusions, anti-venoms, and even vaccines need to be stocked. So also with medical supplies like cotton wool, bandages, tapes etc., etc. Possible areas for placement of patients and their transportation in case of emergencies have to be identified and prepared to receive them. But most important of all is to train human resources to meet the needs of affected people. Required human resources will include medical and health staff, paramedical personnel and volunteers like Red Cross Volunteers and others.
However much we will prepare to respond, there will always be needs arising when actual events occur. Even with such a possibility we must still prepare as much as we can to reduce the ill effects of disasters. Only then would we be functioning as responsible members of our societies.
