Is the response over? The transition from response to recovery in the health sector post-Typhoon Haiyan

Western Pacific Surveillance and Response Journal, 2015, 6 (Suppl 1):5–9, doi:10.5365/wpsar.2015.6.2.HYN_007:

This paper analyzes the period of overlap between response and recovery phases in the Philippines occurred three to seven months post-Typhoon Haiyan from February 2014 to July 2014. It highlights the need to define a period of transition from response to recovery of the health sector as it may have important implications on the health system functioning as a whole.

According to the authors, the need to define when recovery began post-Haiyan had programmatic implications which included (i) waiving the normal policy of donated medicines and shouldering the tax duties of donors, (ii) waiving the licence to practise medicine for foreign professionals and (iii) expedited government and non-government administrative processes during an emergency. Government and humanitarian actors needed a common understanding of the different phases of the Disaster Risk Management cycle to determine programme priorities.