Protecting health systems by reducing disaster risk: A call to invest in resilience – PAHO/WHO
Washington, DC, October 13, 2025 (PAHO) – Four out of ten health facilities in Latin America and the Caribbean are exposed to natural threats. As disasters become more frequent and destructive, public health systems must be prepared to respond to and recover from them, ensuring the delivery of essential health services when they are needed most.
For the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), reducing service interruptions and minimizing infrastructure loss due to disasters is a public health priority.
The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, celebrated on October 13, brings to light the growing impact of disasters and the need to be prepared to maintain continuity of care in health facilities. PAHO joins this year’s theme: “Financing resilience, not disasters,” and calls for decisive action to make early investments in preparation to avoid much greater losses in the future.
Between 2000 and 2022, disasters such as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes affected more than 190 million people in the Americas. While some facilities built after 1980 were built to withstand earthquakes, most do not consider the effects of climate change. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic made clear how service disruption can impact communities, especially in remote areas.
PAHO’s Resilient Hospitals Initiative, in its second year of implementation, exemplifies how disaster risk reduction is being applied in practice. Under the initiative, participating Member States strengthen national policies, reinforce the structural safety of health facilities and adopt environmentally sustainable technologies in a cost-effective manner, while developing coping capacity to provide critical functions. This ensures continued, high-quality, essential, life-saving services in the midst of crises, leaving no one behind.
So far, the strategy has targeted more than 250 hospitals in 13 countries. It is based on a wide Resilient hospital framework developed jointly with WHO/EMRO and more than 500 professionals around the world, highlighting a prioritized and risk-informed approach to resist, adapt, transform and learn from disasters.
National policies strengthen resilience
Colombia, a champion of hospital resilience, developed and launched a national policy to better protect hospitals from health emergencies and disasters. The policy, which focuses on adaptability and rapid recovery, updates technical standards for healthcare infrastructure and risk management guidelines for hospitals. With the support of PAHO/WHO, 26 health facilities have begun to strategically assess risks. Assessment teams are deployed to priority departments to document how health facilities can improve resilience. The cities of Bogotá and Cali and the department of Huila are already incorporating health infrastructure resilience into broader urban planning and disaster risk management efforts.
Examples of resilient hospitals include power and water backup systems, reliable emergency management plans (including risk assessments, rapid response teams, simulation exercises), and staff training for multi-hazard scenarios. Effective design must take into account climate risks and place critical resources in protected locations, while operational resilience is strengthened by stockpiling essential supplies and ensuring flexible supply chains.
Smart hospitals reduce costs
PAHO’s Smart Hospitals initiative in the Caribbean, supported by UKaid, has improved hospital resilience in more than 70 health facilities in seven Caribbean countries. Sites that were retrofitted with smart energy and water solutions achieved between 30% and 60% savings in operating costs. Energy improvements (solar panels, electrical storage batteries and low-consumption electrical systems) are the main driver of savings and positive return on investment.
PAHO remains committed to helping countries in the Americas build safer, greener, and more resilient health systems, protecting both infrastructure and the well-being of entire populations.
