Morocco and Israel sign a memorandum of understanding on disaster management

At the 2nd African Conference on Health Risk Reduction, organised in Marrakech by African Global Health (AGH) and the Government of Morocco from 27-29 September, AGH President Imane Kendili signed a memorandum of understanding with the Director General of the Sheba Medical Centre to strengthen cooperation in the field of health risk management linked to natural disasters. 

In her speech at the opening of the first panel, Imane Kendili said that Africa today has the confidence of the continent's experts and ambassadors of South-South cooperation, which also includes Latin America, emphasising the values of resilience and solidarity that the African continent embodies, and "for which we work together to overcome these disasters and build the future of our children".

In her speech, Professor Hasna Chennaoui, from Hassan II University, shed light on the role of researchers and scientists in raising awareness of natural risks in Morocco, particularly those linked to geology. 

Speaking about the case of seismic risk in Morocco, she highlighted the problem of the scarcity of scientific research in this field and the absence of specialised training in natural risks throughout Morocco, mentioning the experience undertaken by the Faculty of Science Ain Chock in 2012 in creating a professional degree in this speciality including theory and practice, which should be resumed, Chennaoui said. 

As a solution to this problem, he urged the scientific community to share their knowledge and the results of their research with the general public in order to raise awareness, as well as to give courses in schools on how to act in the event of natural risks, insisting on the importance of developing and promoting specialised training in geology and the management of natural and technological risks in the country. 

From Argentina, Diego Verrastro, an expert in catastrophe medicine, pointed out that "Climate change is the new global game and we are responsible for finding ways to deal with this disaster, the repercussions of which we experience on a daily basis".  

The primary goal of disaster medicine is to recover as many victims as possible; furthermore, managing natural hazards requires preparedness, response and mitigation, never improvisation. To effectively carry out this management, it is recommended to use the triage technique as a way of classifying victims according to criteria of severity, survival or therapeutic delay.

Verrastro explained that the absence of a real test largely negates the validity of the best of abstract plans, reflecting the importance of testing any plan for managing health risks or natural disasters.

Ertugrul Taciroglu, a professor at the University of California, Department of Environmental Engineering, spoke about risk resilience from an engineer's point of view; that resilience to natural hazards can only be realised and accelerated through collaboration between multiple actors in different countries around the world. 

Under the slogan "The road to hell is paved with good intentions", Ali Kettani, Professor of Anaesthesia at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Mohamed V University, discussed the Al-Haouz earthquake and the emotion it provoked throughout Morocco, even outside the country, which flooded the affected areas with spontaneous aid, reflecting the desire to participate in helping people.

However, when there is a disaster, one should not improvise, as he said, because one does not know the real needs of the affected areas, one does not know the local culture, which means that a supposed rescuer becomes a burden that implies more expenses for accommodation and food, and represents an individual risk. To avoid this, protocols must be respected, coordination and the safety factor must be taken into account, even for doctors.

Kettani said that "one should not impose one's aid, and if there is a need, it should be adapted to the requirements of the region before proceeding with this humanitarian action". 

Of the curious results of the intervention plan in the Al-Haouz earthquake, Kettani mentioned that 150 major surgeries had been carried out, 80% of which had been performed in less than two days, without taking any cases outside the region, which represents a significant regional achievement. 

Lahcen Ait Brahim, professor at Mohammed V University and member of the National Commission for Disaster Management, brought to light the geological character of Morocco, which is distinguished by its Atlantic and Rifian chains that lie between the African and European plate. These are two seismically active zones with seismic activity coming from both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. 

In his speech, Ait Brahim recalled the various natural disasters that Morocco had experienced, from the destruction of the cities of Fes and Meknes by the 1522 and 1755 earthquakes, respectively, to the Al-Haouz earthquake in 2023, in what was considered a seismically silent zone. 

As an urgent response to these disasters, the Moroccan state has developed a code governing earthquake-resistant construction since the Al-Haouz earthquake.  

In the run-up to the disaster, Morocco has taken measures, as well as the necessary means, to reinforce its resilience.  Thus, it has drawn up maps of suitability for urbanisation, establishing cartographic models that clarify the rules and criteria for choosing land where it is possible to build and land where it is not.

It is a building code that is open to suggestions for improvement and development, mobilising everyone in both the private and public sectors, said Professor Avraham Rivkind, a member of the National Disaster Management Commission. 

Avraham Rivkind, professor at the Department of General Surgery and Trauma at the Hadassah Medical Center of the Hebrew University Jerusalem, presented the topic of public health under the impact and medical consequences of the earthquake. Of these repercussions, he highlighted crush syndrome, fat embolism, time and mortality and post-traumatic stress syndrome as direct and high-impact outcomes that can be caused by natural disasters such as the earthquake.  

In his contribution to the 2nd African Conference on Health Risk Reduction in Marrakech, former Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdaq spoke of Turkey's health and disaster management transformation programme from crisis detection to risk management, with particular emphasis on the lessons Turkey had learned over the past two decades, namely: prioritisation of disaster-resilient settlements, compulsory catastrophe insurance, hospitals with seismic isolators, and local management teams.