Guidelines for Conducting Vulnerability, Risk Analysis and Mapping | Western Cape Government

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Guidelines for Conducting Vulnerability, Risk Analysis and Mapping

20 March 2013

In an effort to strengthen risk management within the global health sector, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) African Region is conducting a ‘train the trainer’ course on "Guidelines for Conducting Vulnerability, Risk Analysis and Mapping (VRAM)". The course is currently underway at the Western Cape Disaster Management from 18- 27 March 2013 and is led in close collaboration with the University of the Free State's Disaster Management Training and Education Center (UFS-DiMTEC).

Delegates in attendance are WHO African regional heads as well as Ministry of Health (MOH) officials from Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo, Ethiopia and South Africa.

The overall goal of the course is to develop a tool in which medical practitioners can assess the capacity and risks of hospitals thus resulting in improved preparedness before disasters and being able to respond more effectively during a disaster. The course will assist medical doctors to develop a scope for risk analysis. Training will incorporate presentations from multi-sectoral experts such as Dr Wayne Smith from the Emergency Medical Services (WC: EMS) on disaster medicine and Schalk Carstens will present on Disaster Risk Reduction, thus further enhancing the learning experience.

The Western Cape Disaster Management centre is the only provincial 24 hour operational centre in South Africa with advanced technology systemsfor risk analysis and mapping. The centre was chosen by the University of the Free State due to the expertise and hands on knowledge of hazards in managing recently declared disasters in the Province such as the veldfires experienced in the Western Cape.

Dr Kalula Kalambay, head of the WHO’s African region said "This course seeks to bridge theory into practice and will eventually see the overall regional health sector strategy for disaster risk management moving into implementation. This will result in building community resilience." 

"Research and academic courses of this nature contribute towards better co-operation and relationship building between United Nations Organisations, academic institutions such as the University of the Free State and the Provincial Government," said Colin Deiner chief director of the Western Cape Disaster Management. 

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