World Health Organization as a means to reduce traffic-related injuries. The WHO has also worked on global initiatives in surgery, including emergency and essential surgical care, trauma care, and safe surgery. The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is in current use worldwide in the effort to improve patient safety. The World Health Organization's primary objective in natural and man-made emergencies is to coordinate with member states and other stakeholders to "reduce avoidable loss of life and the burden of disease and disability." On 5 May 2014, WHO announced that the spread of polio was a world health emergency – outbreaks of the disease in
Public health emergency (United States) Public health emergency (United States) In the United States, a public health emergency declaration releases resources meant to handle an actual or potential public health crisis. Recent examples include incidents of flooding, severe weather, and the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano described it as a "declaration of emergency preparedness." The National Disaster Medical System Federal Partners Memorandum of Agreement defines a public health emergency as ""an emergency need for health care [medical] services to respond to a disaster, significant outbreak of an infectious disease, bioterrorist attack or other significant or catastrophic event. For purposes of NDMS