| Autor: |
Hassan S; Saria Hassan (saria.hassan@emory.edu) is an assistant professor at the Emory School of Medicine and Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time of manuscript submission, she was an instructor of internal medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut., Nguyen M; Mytien Nguyen is a student in the MD/PhD program at the Yale School of Medicine., Buchanan M; Morgan Buchanan is a student in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, Yale University., Grimshaw A; Alyssa Grimshaw is a clinical research and education librarian in Clinical Information Services at Yale University., Adams OP; Oswald P. Adams is the dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, in Bridgetown, Barbados., Hassell T; Trevor Hassell is the president of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, in Bridgetown, Barbados., Ragster L; LaVerne Ragster is a retired professor and president emerita at the University of the Virgin Islands, in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands., Nunez-Smith M; Marcella Nunez-Smith is an associate professor of medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine and director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center, both at the Yale School of Medicine. |
| Abstrakt: |
Extreme weather events in the Caribbean region are becoming increasingly severe because of climate change. The region also has high rates of poorly controlled chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which were responsible for at least 30 percent of deaths after two recent hurricanes. We conducted a scoping review of literature published between 1974 and 2020 to understand the burden and management of chronic NCDs in the Caribbean after natural disasters. Of the twenty-nine articles included in this review, most described experiences related to Hurricanes Dorian (2019) and Irma and Maria (2017) and the Haiti earthquake (2010). Challenges included access to medication, acute care services, and appropriate food, as well as communication difficulties and reliance on ad hoc volunteers and outside aid. Mitigating these challenges requires different approaches, including makeshift points of medication dispensing, disease surveillance systems, and chronic disease self-management education programs. Evidence is needed to inform policies to build resilient health systems and integrate NCD management into regional and national disaster preparedness and response plans. |
