Concept Note on

Knowledge Dissemination Workshop on Hospital Preparedness for

Disaster

Background
In the previous cycles of the programme, UN-Habitat in the Myanmar has been working with
professional societies such as Myanmar Engineering Society, Myanmar Earthquake Committee and
Myanmar Geoscience Society etc. to address the earthquake vulnerability and risk related issues. UN-
Habitat has also conducted earthquake vulnerability assessment in Yangon for important critical
facilities such as schools, fire station, hospitals, important government offices etc, Comprehensive
building assessment as well as retrofitting plan of Operation Theatre, Yangon General Hospital was
developed but non-structural safety issue of hospitals to keep them functional during earthquakes have
not been addressed before.

Hospital safety during earthquake or any other disaster is one of the biggest concerns as it is considered
as a lifeline structure / critical facility which is required to be functional at the time of an emergency.
Hospitals and health facilities are critical resources that would need to remain safe and functional after
a disaster to provide emergency medical services for people injured by the disaster and continue
providing medical care for existing patients. Hospital is a very complex system whose functionality
does not only depend upon the physical structure but also to a large extent on non-structural parts (80-
90% of total cost) during earthquakes. Non-structural parts involve medical equipment, medicines,
utility services etc. which can be severely damage and making hospital non-functional during
earthquakes.

Under the current phase of the MCCR project “Building resilience: action for strengthened institutions,
communities and systems in Myanmar”, UN-Habitat along with technical partners GeoHazards
International (GHI) and Myanmar Engineering Society (MES), has undertaken the non-structural safety
assessment of Yangon General Hospital and Mandalay General Hospital mainly considering
functionality aspects after a damaging earthquake. With the support of YGH and MGH, assessment has
been conducted to assess safety and functionality aspects of utility services (Water, Electricity and Gas
Supply) and critical facilities such as operation theatre, emergency department, pathology, blood bank,
medicine storage, CSSD, ICU, Radiology, MRI, and other units prioritized by hospital authorities.
Detailed assessment reports have been submitted to YGH and MGH highlighting key hospital safety
and functionality issues along with solutions and key recommendations for YGH, MGH and Ministry
of Health and Sports.

Based on the experience gained and assessment reports outcomes, knowledge dissemination workshop
on "Hospital Preparedness for Disasters” will be organized in Yangon and Mandalay to disseminate the
findings and to have discussion about key aspects of disaster preparedness for hospitals. It will help
other hospital management authorities and MoHS to sensitize about the key issues to be addressed and
possible solutions for building resilient hospitals in order to make them functional up to full capacity
during emergency to avoid further casualties and suffering after a devastating disaster.

Objectives of Knowledge Dissemination Workshop

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 The objectives of workshop are:

- To disseminate the findings of “Non-Structural Risk Assessment” of YGH and MGH

- To create more awareness and advocacy to key hospitals and Ministry of Health and
Sports on disaster safety aspects of hospitals
- To discuss key recommendations and mitigation measures to ensure functionality of
hospitals after earthquake and advocate on mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in
health sector
- To promote disaster safety culture among health facilities

Expected Outcome of Knowledge Dissemination Workshop

- YGH and MGH are more aware about vulnerabilities, interdependencies of critical
systems and potential risk in hospitals in an earthquake scenario
- YGH, MGH, other government hospitals, private health associations, MoHS etc. are
more aware about earthquake risk in the country and potential impact of those on health
facilities
- MoHS, YGH and MGH will consider recommendations to implement in order to reduce
disaster risk and MoHS will provide further support to other key hospitals in addressing
similar issues.

Participants:
Maximum 50 participants
Ministry of Health and Sports
Department of Disaster Management
Department of Health (Yangon and Mandalay)
Yangon General Hospital
Mandalay General Hospital
Other key Government Hospitals Selected by MoHS, YGH, MGH
Private Health Association
World Health Organization (WHO)
ECHO (Donor)
Humanity and Inclusion
UN-Habitat
GeoHazarads International

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 Tentative Agenda for
Workshop in Yangon

Date : 18th December 2019

Time : 12:30 to 16:45
Venue : Sule Shangri La Hotel, Yangon

Time Agenda Participant

12:00 – 12:30 Registration All

12:30-13:30 Lunch All

Opening Session (10 min for each)
MoHS/YGH
 Opening Speech by MoHs/YGH
13:30 – 14:00 ECHO
 Speech by ECHO
UN-Habitat
 Speech by UN Habitat
14:00 - 14:10 Photo Session All
Overview of “Non-Structural Risk
14:10 – 14:20 UN-Habitat
Assessment of YGH and MGH”
“Non-Structural Safety Aspects of
14:20 – 14:40 Hospitals: Experience from Other GHI
Countries”
“Non-Structural Risk Assessment in
14:40 – 15:30 Myanmar: Key Findings and GHI
Recommendations”
15:30 – 15:45 Tea/Coffee Break All

15:45 – 16:05 Hospital Preparedness for Disasters GHI

16:05- 16:35 Discussion/Q&A All

16:35-16:45 Closing Remarks YGH