Disaster and health vulnerability assessment for the population of the Kingdom of Bhutan
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Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
Bhutan has reached medium level of human development. This and other factors make it prone to the negative impacts of climate change, flooding, droughts and epidemics. The government of Bhutan has participated in regional initiatives aimed at dealing with vulnerability to floods and droughts. However, some dimensions of the country’s and population’s vulnerability have not been studied yet. Therefore, a combination of literature review and calculations was used to assess the health, WASH and socio-economic dimensions of vulnerability of the Bhutanese population. Results of the review indicate that the government of Bhutan has initiated programmes with focus on the health outcomes of climate change and on universal access
to healthcare. Critical efforts have focused on the compilation of the essential medicines’ list and targeting the risk factors of non-communicable diseases such as alcohol abuse. By 2013, 95 % of the Kingdom’s population had access to a healthcare facility within three hours walking distance from their dwelling and the main avenue of access is through government facilities. From 2008 to 2013, the expanded medical infrastructure vulnerability index ranged from
1.858 to 2.420 per 1000 inhabitants/citizens between 2008 and 2013, i.e. Bhutan achieved the World Health Organisation target of 2.3 healthcare professionals per 1000 inhabitants. The WASH vulnerability criterion decreased from 0.241 in 2000 to 0.128 in 2013. There was a strong correlation between the WASH vulnerability of the Bhutanese population and its economic/social vulnerability at 5 % level of significance (p-value = 1.2×10-5 and 7.06×10-4, respectively). Such correlations can be used as a guide for policy development, adaptation and development for further vulnerability decrease in the Kingdom of Bhutan
Description
Keywords
Social vulnerability, Economic vulnerability
Citation
Tandlich, R., Angala, H., Vhiriri, E.P., et al. (2018). Disaster and health vulnerability assessment for the population of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Journal for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(1), 62-86.