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Health-Related Relief in the Former Yugoslavia: Needs, Demands, and Supplies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Margareta Rubin ,
J. Hans A. Heuvelmans ,
Anja Tomic-Cica  and
Marvin L. Birnbaum
Margareta Rubin*
Affiliation:
Socialstyrelsen, The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare, Department of Emergency Planning, Stockholm Sweden and Consultant to the World Health Organization
J. Hans A. Heuvelmans
Affiliation:
Médians sans Frontieres, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Currently, Health Inspectorate of The Netherlands Department of Pharmacy and Medical Technology, The Hague, The Netherlands
Anja Tomic-Cica
Affiliation:
Médians sans Frontieres, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Marvin L. Birnbaum
Affiliation:
Departments of Medicine and Physiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
*
*Socialstyrelsen, The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare, Department of Emergency and Disaster Planning, Stockholm, Sweden, E-mail: margareta.rubin@chello.se
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Abstract

Introduction:

Many organizations rally to areas to provide assistance to a population during a disaster. Little is known about the ability of the materials and services provided to meet the actual needs and demands of the affected population. This study sought to identify the perceptions of representatives of the international organizations providing this aid, the international workers involved with the delivery of this aid, the workers who were employed locally by the international organizations, the recipients, and the local authorities. This study sought to identify the perceptions of these personnel relative to the adequacies of the supplies in meeting the needs and demands of the population during and following the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Methods:

Structured interviews were conducted with representatives of international organizations and workers providing aid and with locally employed workers, recipients of the assistance, and the authorities of the areas involved. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to assist in the analysis of the data.

Results:

Eighty-eight interviews were conducted. A total of 246 organizations were identified as providing assistance within the area, and 54% were involved with health-related activities including: 1) the provision of medications; 2) public health measures; and 3) medical equipment or parts for the same. Internationals believed that a higher proportion of the needs were being met by the assistance (73.4 ±16.4%) than did the nationals (52.1 ±23.3%; p <0.001). All groups believed that approximately 50% of the demands of the affected population were being addressed. However, 87% of the international interviewees believed that the affected population was requesting more than it actually needed.

While 27% of the international participants believed that ≥25% of what was provided was unusable, 80% of the recipients felt that ≥25% of the provisions were not usable. Whereas two-thirds of the international participants believed that ≥25% of the demands for assistance by the affected community could not be justified, only 20% of the recipients and authorities believed ≥25% of the demands were unjustified.

Conclusions::

Many organizations are involved in the provision of medical assistance during a disaster. However, international organizations and workers believe their efforts are more effective than do the recipients.

Keywords

aidassessmentassistancedemandsdisastermaterielsneedsnon-governmental organizationspersonnelsuppliesworkers
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , March 2000 , pp. 9 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2000

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