Interagency emergency health kit 2011: medicines and medical devices for 10 000 people for approximately three months

UN agencies and international and nongovernmental organisations are increasingly called upon to respond to large-scale emergencies to prevent and manage serious threats to the survival and health of the affected populations. Medicines and medical devices have been supplied by relief agencies for decades. In the 1980s, the World Health Organization (WHO) facilitated a process to encourage the standardisation of medicines and medical devices needed in emergencies to allow efficient and effective responses to the need for medicines and medical devices. This initial work led to the supply of standard, pre-packed kits that could be kept in readiness to meet priority health needs in emergencies. The concept of the emergency health kit has been adopted by many organisations and national authorities as a reliable, standardised, affordable and quickly available source of the essential medicines and medical devices (renewable and equipment) urgently needed in a disaster situation. Its content is based on the health needs of 10,000 people for a period of three months. The Interagency Emergency Health Kit, now in its fourth edition, explains how to use standardized packages of essential medicines, supplies and equipment in such circumstances.