The increase in the number of large-scale natural disasters in recent years has been alarming.Major fl oods, hurricanes, earthquakes and many others have affected millions of people, with great destruction of property and loss of life, while forest fires, pipeline failures, and bombings have had equally devastating affects over a

Research presented at the 7th International Conference on Disaster Management and Human Health: Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes is contained in this volume. These contributions from academics and experts focus on public health, security and disaster management with the goal to assess the potential risk from various types of disaster and

The contents of this book consist of papers presented at the 5th International Conference on Disaster Management and Human Health: Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes, part of a series of conferences convened to assess the potential risk from various disasters and discuss ways to prevent or alleviate damage. These latest developments,

Today the world faces unparalleled threats from human-made disasters that can be attributed to failure of industrial and energy installation as well as to terrorism. Added to this is the unparalleled threat of emerging and re-emerging diseases, with scientists predicting events such as an influenza pandemic.

As human population has continued to concentrate in urban areas, the number of people and the value of property affected by disasters, both natural and human-generated, have grown as well. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, and forest fires have all taken their toll so have such anthropogenic disasters as pipeline