Environmental Public Health Program

Transcription

1 Environmental Public Health Program FIRST NATIONS AND INUIT HEALTH BRANCH First Nations Communities Resilience in the Face of Disasters May 24, 2017 Conference

2 COMPONENTS RELATED TO EPHS ACTIVITIES EPHS and emergency measures: Intervention - Potable water - Food safety - Health and housing - Waste water - Solid waste disposal Preparation Emergency Management Recovery - Facilities inspection - Communicable disease control Recovery Environmental Public Health Program First Nations and Inuit Health Branch Quebec Region

3 SUBJECT OF THE PRESENTATION Relationship among Disasters, Housing and Health Disasters Health Housing Why? Environmental Public Health Program First Nations and Inuit Health Branch Quebec Region

4 "There is a growing body of evidence that housing circumstances affect the physical and mental health of families and individuals." (Housing is Good Social Policy, Canadian Policy Research Networks, 2004). Bad housing conditions are associated with respiratory disorders and can eventually result in hospitalization. eng.htm

5 Health Reports Housing conditions and respiratory hospitalizations among First Nations people in Canada (April 2017) About 40% of First Nations people in Canada live on Indian reserves and settlements, where housing is more likely to need major repairs

6 INSPECTIONS PERFORMED BY THE EPHS 60% % inspections with unsatisfactory evaluations 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Humidity/ventilation Humidité/Ventilation Water Infiltrations infiltration d'eau Foundation Fondation Toit/parement/gouttières/tuyaux Roof/siding/gutters/ de downpipe/soffit descente/soffite et bordure and roof de border toit Windows Fenêtres Environmental health information system

7 HAZARDS: FLOOD Quebec: land of lakes and rivers Includes approximately 3.6 million bodies of fresh water Tens of thousands of streams and rivers Several municipalities are built near watercourses Primary natural hazard Since 1990, 27 catastrophic floods (1) eau/portrait-qc-aquatique-eau-nord-sudest-ouest.htm

8 TYPES OF RISKS QUEBEC RESIDENTS BELIEVE CAN IMPACT THEIR COMMUNITY, 2014 Blizzards, winter storms, freezing rain or extreme cold.. Extended power outage.... Heat waves.. Earthquakes. Contamination or shortage in water or food.. Outbreak of major or sometimes deadly diseases... Industrial or transportation accidents. Floods.. Forest fires or wildfires. eng.htm

9 HOUSING VULNERABILITY Not obvious (measure or assessment of degree of vulnerability): conditions are present before the manifestation of the hazard and revealed when they occur. For a risk to be present: HAZARD + ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY = RISK (Ministère de la sécurité publique-msp)

10 2017 FLOODS

11 HOUSING VULNERABILITY Reducing the vulnerability of the housing: ensures the security of the occupants reduces property damage (visible and hidden) reduces the delay before returning to the site PROMOTES RESILIENCE

12 Where is resilience? Resilience = ABILITY to reduce vulnerability

13 CASE STUDY 2017 FLOODS Summary of the Incidents (Updated: May 13 7:30 PM) 129 cities and municipalities were victim of the disaster. 4,596 residents were flooded by the rising waters throughout Quebec. 3,891 people evacuated their residences. 507 roads were affected by the rising waters. ntanieres_2017/pages/%c3%89tat-de-situationprovincial.aspx

14 Health Canada s EPHS Intervention Activities: DURING: 1) Evaluation of the situation regarding potable water, waste water and housing conditions 2) Meeting with key people 3) Provide documentation on what to do during and after the flood Provide information on the risks and the protective measures

15 Health Canada s EPHS Intervention Activities: After: 1) Private wells will be sampled and analyzed to verify the bacteriological and physicochemical quality; 2) Septic systems will be inspected to verify their operational state; 3) Houses will be inspected and an inspection report will be given to the different partners.

16 The importance of communicating The three main sources of information in the case of disasters among Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples News on the radio, television or the Internet The fourth source of important information was Families among the Indigenous (16%) A lack of information can increase the vulnerability of population faced with a risk eng.htm

17 Recommendations The mitigation period should be a good opportunity for lessons learned.

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