Disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, heat waves, nuclear accidents, and large scale pollution incidents take lives and cause exceptionally large health problems. The majority of large-scale disasters affect the most vulnerable populations, which are often comprised of people of extreme ages, in remote living areas, with endemic poverty, and with low literacy. Health-related emergency disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) [1] refers to the systematic analysis and management of health risks surrounding emergencies and disasters; it plays an important role in reducing hazards and vulnerability along with extending preparedness, response, and recovery measures. This concept encompasses risk analyses and interventions, such as accessible early warning systems, timely deployment of relief workers, and the provision of suitable drugs and medical equipment, to decrease the impact of disaster on people before, during, and after disaster events. Disaster risk profiling and interventions can be at the personal/household, community, and system/political levels; they can be targeted at specific health risks including respiratory issues caused by indoor burning, re-emergence of infectious disease due to low vaccination coverage, and gastrointestinal problems resulting from unregulated waste management. Unfortunately, there has been a major gap in the scientific literature regarding Health-EDRM. The aim of this Special Issue of IJERPH was to present papers describing/reporting the latest disaster and health risk analyses, as well as interventions for health-related disaster risk management, in an effort to address this gap and facilitate major global policies and initiatives for disaster risk reduction.

The WHO website has an introductory description for the Guidance. It states that the WHO Guidance on Research Methods for Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health EDRM) was developed to address the need to promote high quality research methods to those who commission and conduct research on Health EDRM. The intended audience includes decision makers, practitioners, and community actors who need for evidence-based policy and practice to implement the Health EDRM Framework, Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the International Health Regulations (2005), the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other relevant global, regional and national frameworks. Chapters have been written by more than 100 international authors with practical experience and expertise in a wide range of areas including research, practice and policy making. The unique collection of chapters provides straightforward and practical guidance on how to plan, conduct and report a wide variety of studies that can answer quantitative and qualitative questions in different emergency settings. Case studies of direct relevance to Health EDRM provide real-life examples of research to illustrate the methods and their impact. The book was revised in 2022 with an additional chapter on how to use this book in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health EDRM) has recently emerged as a critical field for research, policy, and practice as a result of the growing recognition of health as a core dimension in disaster risk management. Global frameworks such as the WHO 13th General Programme of Work (GPW13), the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the International Health Regulations (IHR) have goals, targets, and indicators that monitor the health impact of disasters and emergencies and resilience in health systems and communities. Policies and actions guided by the best possible evidence are therefore critical for managing the health risks of emergencies and disasters. However, the evidence base in Health EDRM is very limited, reflecting the overall lack of research in this area. To address this gap, the WHO set out to develop a reference book about methods to guide Health EDRM research in collaboration with global experts. This book provides concrete guidance across a wide range of research, taking a systematic approach to discuss the type of research that is needed to generate relevant evidence for managing risks and consequences of emergencies and disasters. This research includes observational and experimental studies, and those that use qualitative or quantitative data, or both. When using the book, readers are encouraged to take account of the specific setting of the health risks of any emergency or disaster, including national capacities and the impacts that are directly and indirectly health-related.