Injury Prevention, Disaster and Public Health Preparedness and Response / 보건행정학회지

Injury is a serious problem that not only causes death but also significantly degrades the quality of life of the people and causes loss of socioeconomic opportunities and costs. Damage occurs as a result of an accident. Among them, natural disasters and artificial disasters take lives of many people in a short time and threaten their physical and mental health. The United States has responded to the disaster by establishing relevant laws and regulations and a response system with the recognition that health is recognised soon to be as national security in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Katrina disaster. It is necessary to build a knowledge infrastructure to train disaster response experts in public health area and to have health competence to cope with disasters.

Stable iodine prophylaxis for public health response after nuclear power plant accidents / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

The stable iodine prophylaxis plays an important role in public health response after nuclear power plants accident. According to the recent guidelines of the international organizations and other countries, the intervention level of stable iodine prevention, timing of taking medication, doses for different groups, and the contradictions were discussed in this paper. The chemical form and the formulation of the stable iodine were introduced, and something needs attention during stockpiling and distribution of the iodine. There were still some problems in China on the preparedness for the stable iodine prophylaxis after nuclear power plant accident, including the single type of potassium iodide tablet, short shelf life and no practical guidance. The preparedness of stable iodine should be strengthened.

Public health response to the combined Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant accident: perspective from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan

At 14:46 on 11 March 2011, eastern Japan was struck by the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history. With the epicentre off the Sanriku coast, the magnitude 9.0 quake triggered a tsunami, which together with the effects of the quake ignited a serious accident at a nuclear power plant. The damage was grave and widespread with the death toll as of 9 November 2011 at 15 835 and the number of missing and unaccounted for at 3664.1 Immediately after the earthquake, the Japanese Government, local governments in the stricken areas, hospitals, external organizations and volunteers launched coordinated relief and recovery activities. The role of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) in a disaster includes securing medical and nursing care, providing public health services and ensuring the safety of food and water supplies.