Recovery

The aim of emergency recovery is to re-establish the economic, social and cultural life of the people affected and to rebuild damaged areas.

As a disaster situation is brought under control, the affected populations participate in activities to restore community life and rebuild the environmental health infrastructure (shelter, water supply, sanitation facilities). There is great emphasis on supporting people to rebuild and recover by their own efforts after a disaster. This may be a slow process and the capacity for such efforts must be carefully nurtured and built up over a period of time.

There is no distinct point at which immediate response activities change into recovery and then into long-term sustainable development. Progress in some areas is quicker than in others. Physical rehabilitation and reconstruction can sometimes happen more quickly than social or psychological rehabilitation. Both are necessary for a full recovery.

The recovery phase is also an opportunity to enhance prevention and increase preparedness, thus reducing the potential consequences of another event.

Environmental health activities carried out in the recovery phase can also increase people’s capacity to cope with, and recover from, future disasters. Examples include:

• the reconstruction of housing with improved local drainage and built-in roof water-catchment systems;
• the reconstruction of markets with adequate facilities for personal and food hygiene, and the repair and deepening of rural wells and boreholes.

Key resources

WHO

• Guidelines for drinking-water quality (2006).
  Chapter 6 - Application of the Guidelines in specific circumstances
• Assessing microbial safety of drinking water: improving approaches and methods (2003)
• Assessing the health consequences of major chemical incidents - epidemiological approaches (1997)
• Environmental Health Criteria Monographs
• Environmental management for vector control (1988)
• Environmental health in emergencies and disasters: a practical guide (2002)
• Fact sheets on environmental sanitation
• Guide to the development of on-site sanitation (1992)
• Guidelines for safe disposal of unwanted pharmaceuticals in and after emergencies (1999)
• Health effects of the Chernobyl accident and special health care programmes (2006) [pdf 923kb]
• Household water treatment and safe storage following emergencies and disasters [pdf 840kb]
• Practical guidelines for infection control in health care facilities. Chapter 4. Environmental management practices (2004)
• The drinking-water response to the Indian Ocean tsunami including the role of household water treatment (2005)
• Vector-borne disease fact sheets
• Water and sanitation related diseases fact sheets