A clear definition of public health disasters is crucial for finding efficient and effective solutions to them. Esmeralda Huerta’s brief provides a comprehensive definition for the terms “disaster” and “public health impact” in the context of public health emergency management.
“A disaster is an event that disrupts the ability of society to function as normal, whether by causing damage to infrastructure or resulting in injury or death to a population,” writes the author. “A public health disaster is any disaster which impacts the ability of life-necessary institutions to function […]. Public health impact can be measured through many indicators, such as loss of life, a break in life-necessary services such as a community’s access to food and medicine, displacement of people, mental health impact, and more.”