Acknowledgment and references

This publication has been made possible by the competent and dedicated contribution of Dr. John Seaman, Senior Medical Officer, Save the Children Fund, London, who drafted and reviewed its preliminary versions.

Acknowledgment is owed many people in and outside the World Health Organization for their valuable comments and criticism based on long field experience. We are particularly grateful to UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the League of Red Cross Societies and the American Red Cross, the Research Center on Disaster Epidemiology in Belgium, and the many individual experts in disaster-prone countries who contributed their comments to the extensive revision of several chapters. Thanks are also due Dr. Claude de Ville de Goyet and Mr. David Donaldson of the Pan American Health Organization and Dr. Wolfgang Bulle of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for their detailed technical review of the drafts and preparation of the manuscript.

The valuable contributions and comments from all World Health Organization regions and especially WHO's Emergency Relief Operations Office in Geneva have made it possible to address the problem globally.

Material and ideas have been drawn from many sources, but particularly from the following publications which are essential complements to this Guide:

1. de Ville de Goyet, C., J. Seaman, and U. Geiger. The Management of Nutritional Emergencies in Large Populations. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1978.

2. The Selection of Essential Drugs; Report of a WHO Expert Committee. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1979. (WHO Technical Report Series 641.)

3. Protein-Calorie Advisory Group of the United Nations System. A Guide to Food and Health Relief Operations for Disasters. New York, United Nations, 1977.

4. Assar, M. A Guide to Sanitation in Natural Disasters. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1971.

Additional reading materials are listed in Annex 2.