Studying the Environmental Health Condition of the Cities in the Kermanshah Province Affected by ۲۰۱۷ Earthquake

Background: Natural disasters are out of human control, often leading to loss of life and property, and particularly affecting public health. Natural disasters influence human lives in different ways. They may have severe, obvious, or hidden consequences. Therefore, the present study aimed at examining the environmental health condition of the cities affected by ۲۰۱۷ earthquake in Kermanshah Province. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The environmental health experts gathered and analyzed the study data regarding the environment health condition of public places, food safety, solid waste management, types and number of water supplies, number of healthcare facilities and local health centers, etc.  Results: According to the results, the lowest and highest number of damaged villages in Kermanshah Province were located in Sarpol-e Zahab (۲۰۵ villages) and Ghasreshirin (۲۹ villages), respectively. In addition, Eslamabad-e Gharb and Salas-e Babajani had the highest and lowest urban and rural populations, respectively. A total of ۱۳۸۵۶۴ people were affected by the earthquake. The improved water sources in the affected areas included ۵۱ low-risk water sources, ۱۷۱ moderate-risk water sources, ۲ high-risk water sources, and ۰ very high-risk water sources. In addition, ۵۰۵۹ m۳ water was chlorinated by the environmental health experts and ۱۸۰۵ households were under the coverage of methoxymethyl chloride. Moreover, public healthcare centers (۱۰۵۹ intact and ۶۰۵ damaged), ۴۵۶۴ food safety centers (۳۲۰۴ intact and ۱۳۶۰ damaged), and ۲۰ solid waste management centers (۱۶ intact and ۴ damaged) were available in the area after the earthquake. Conclusion: Overall, the results indicate that the environmental health activities in the areas affected by the earthquake were adequate in terms of providing healthy drinking water, garbage and wastewater management, distribution of healthy foods, and so on. Thus it can be used as a good model to response the needs of the survivors from the future natural disasters and crises.

کلیدواژه ها:

Earthquake ، Environmental health ، Risk ، Natural disaster ، Food safety