The Determinants of Disaster Vulnerability: Achieving Sustainable Mitigation through Population Health

The growing appreciation of mitigation is highlighting theneed to develop a better understanding of what makes some people more vulnerable tothe impacts of a disaster. Health researchers have asked a similar question regarding thevarying vulnerability to illness within a population. This has lead to the identification of a setof social, physical and economic factors that are now referred to as the determinants of health.These factors are the same as those commonly associated with disaster vulnerability. Recognizingthat these same concepts are being applied in both the health and disaster management contextspresents an opportunity to also achieve a shared objective of reducing vulnerability withina population.