Emergency Sanitation

Catastrophic events such as floods and droughts are visible examples of the impact of climatic variability on real growth, and poor water and land management regimes can significantly magnify such damages. During the 1990s, Asia experienced nearly one third of all worldwide water-related disasters a total of 1.8 billion people were affected, according to U.N. WWDR 2003. What distinguished Asia from Africa in this context is that 80% of those affected by the Asian disasters were impacted by floods, whereas in Africa during the same period, 80% were impacted by drought. Interestingly, investments in appropriate water storage capacity could help alleviate both these opposing types of disaster impacts. Water and sanitation impacts have a number of very significant impacts on the lives of poor people, such as (see Moss et al (2003), p.55):

A STUDY REPORT ON THE WATER AND SANITATION SITUATION OF THE TSUNAMI AFFECTED DISTRICTS, May 30, 2005 [ C.eldoc1/d70d/TRRC_TNVHA_WatSan_Report.pdf]

What steps should be taken on santation in case of emergency?
Community participation is the active involvement of people from communities preparing for, or reacting to, disasters. True participation means the involvement of the people concerned in analysis, decision-making, planning, and programme implementation, as well as in all the activities, from search and rescue to reconstruction, that people affected by disasters undertake spontaneously without the involvement of external agencies. While the opportunities for community participation may vary greatly from place to place and at different points in the disaster-management cycle, a participatory approach to disaster-related activities should be promoted to achieve sustainable development.

The need for hygiene promotion in emergencies
Following disasters, hygiene promotion may be particularly important because:

People will expect information about the disaster itself and its aftermath. They will need to know, for example, how they can be reunited with friends and family and where it is safe to stay. In some cases, such as chemical and radiation emergencies, there may be a good deal of suspicion, misinformation and rumour, and it is then essential that people have access to authoritative information.
There may be many unfamiliar arrangements for water and food supply, excreta disposal, etc., especially when people are forced to evacuate their homes. Rapidly available information about the new arrangements and the importance of complying with them (e.g. the importance of using designated defecation fields) is essential.
Environmental health staff need to understand rapidly the health risks faced by the affected population and the services required to reduce those risks. They need to know what can be provided by the affected population, how much external assistance will be required, and the best way to organize external assistance to meet the needs and wishes of the affected people.
Disaster-affected people may face greatly increased risks to their health, and will need to develop adequate responses. For example, under normal circumstances, defecation in fields around houses may be quite customary and safe, but in a crowded camp the same behaviour poses a serious hazard. Water sources may become contaminated as a result of overcrowding, which may also lead to increased transmission and incidence of communicable diseases.

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Urban Area
Rural area
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/emergencies/emergencies2002/en/