Guidelines for vulnerability reduction in the design of new health facilities

It is almost always the case that, when struck by large-scale natural disasters, hospital services are interrupted temporarily or permanently, mainly due to damage to their infrastructure. The operational loss of these facilities signifies more than the loss of the capital investments. Far more importantly, it has a major negative impact on the wellbeing and the socioeconomic development of the population and the country. In recent years, various PAHO/WHO member states have managed to reduce the