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A Global Collaboration for Community-Based Disaster Preparation and Health Promotion: Fukushima to Zuunbayan in Mongolia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2020

Chieri Yamada Open the ORCID record for Chieri Yamada [Opens in a new window] ,
Bolormaa Tsedendamba ,
Amarbileg Shajbalidir ,
Teruko Horiuchi ,
Katsuko Suenaga ,
Manlaijav Gun-Aajav ,
Nyamdavaa Enkhgerel  and
Enkhtuya Palam
Chieri Yamada*
Affiliation:
Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Bolormaa Tsedendamba
Affiliation:
ZB Hospital, Department of Health, Dornogobi, Mongolia
Amarbileg Shajbalidir
Affiliation:
Department of Hydrant and Metereology Monitoring, Dorngobi, Mongolia
Teruko Horiuchi
Affiliation:
Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Katsuko Suenaga
Affiliation:
Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Manlaijav Gun-Aajav
Affiliation:
The Executive Office of the Nuclear Energy Commission, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Nyamdavaa Enkhgerel
Affiliation:
The Executive Office of the Nuclear Energy Commission, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Enkhtuya Palam
Affiliation:
National Center for Public Health, Ministry of Health, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Prof. Chieri Yamada, Department of Public Health Nursing for International Radiation Exposure, Fukushima Medical University, 1 Hikarigaoka, Fukushima, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

Excessive radiation exposure has adverse effects on health. In Fukushima, psychological issues such as anxiety are still affecting people nine years after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011. In light of the lessons learned from Fukushima communities, a joint Japanese and Mongolian research team introduced a community program to the Zuunbayan district in Mongolia, which is located near a uranium deposit, to promote good health by strengthening radiation emergency preparedness. The program, which commenced in 2017, aimed to increase community participation, education, information dissemination, and capacity of community preparedness. After two years a monitoring study showed that, out of 227 respondents, the proportions who thought that any level of radiation was dangerous decreased from 53.3% in 2017 to 33.9% in 2019. Moreover, half of the respondents knew that there were safe and unsafe radiation levels and that their community was safe. This global collaboration demonstrated that a lesson learned from a disaster can be applied to other countries and changed people’s recognition and behavior toward good health and disaster/emergency preparedness.

Keywords

community participationcommunity and individual resilienceglobal collaborationhealth promotionradiation exposure
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 296 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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