Abstract

MORA-GONZALEZ, Ángela Patricia; MADRID-GONZALEZ, Daniel Alberto  and  BARRAGAN-VAZQUEZ DEL MERCADO, Sofía. S19: Morelos State government’s response in health. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2018, vol.60, suppl.1, pp.97-104. ISSN 0036-3634.  https://doi.org/10.21149/9294.

On September 19th, 2017, an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 degrees on the Richter scale was recorded to the Southeast of Axochiapan in Morelos, Mexico. The seism left a total of 74 deaths, more than 20 000 households affected, and produced the evacuation of 18 hospitals and 281 primary health care units. Two months later, actions by the Health Sector regarding the assistance of the affected population continued. The numbers went from 3 173 people concentrated in 49 temporary shelters at its maximum peak, to a total of 1 512 people in 23 temporary shelters, with the implementation of public health actions such as: sanitary risks protection, epidemiological surveillance, health promotion, disease prevention, health attention and rehabilitation. This article describes the Health Sector’s response during and after the earthquake, with the purpose of providing an evidence-based public health perspective for emergency situations.

Keywords : earthquakes; natural disasters; community participation; Morelos; Mexico.