Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) Course

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The Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) workshop is two weeks of information exchange, lessons and activities focused on the provision of healthcare, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief during health crises, armed conflicts, and other complex humanitarian emergencies. The workshop aims to instill the knowledge, skills and most effective approach – based on scientific evidence, best practices and professional ethics – that humanitarian responders will need to make effective decisions during disasters.  

Multidisciplinary knowledge sharing, challenges in humanitarian health, and civilian-military coordination are featured throughout the workshop. Invited military and civilian professionals from across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region are provided with a detailed understanding of the technical background and best practices in delivering critical health services in support of natural disasters and complex humanitarian emergencies. The workshop content incorporates lessons learned from recent humanitarian crises, selected readings, lectures from subject matter experts, and interactive discussions and exercises. 

Most importantly, the HELP workshop brings together professionals representing both civilian and military organizations and facilitates a dynamic exchange of knowledge and sharing of multidisciplinary experiences from across the humanitarian community.   

Upon completion of the training, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the essential issues related to public health, healthcare delivery, law, and ethics associated with humanitarian actions and medical response during complex humanitarian emergencies, as well as the most effective methods to address them.

  • Analyze immediate health and humanitarian needs during a disaster using a multidisciplinary approach that considers the perceptions, vulnerabilities, and capabilities of the impacted populations.

  • Plan, manage, and evaluate activities comprising the response to major humanitarian crises, especially from a civilian-military coordination perspective.

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

  • Legal Framework

  • Humanitarian Ethics

  • Actors in Humanitarian Intervention

  • Program Cycle Management

  • Data Collection, Analysis, and Sharing

  • Nutrition and Livelihood Support

  • Public Health Engineering: Sheltering, WASH, and Urban Considerations

  • Transversal Approaches to Violence: Sexual Violence

  • Healthcare Services in Humanitarian Crises

  • Surveillance and Early Warning Systems

  • Field Epidemiology in Crisis Settings

  • Communicable Diseases

  • Non-Communicable Diseases

  • Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

  • Violence Against Healthcare

  • Humanitarian Protection

  • Civil-Military Coordination

The 2024 iteration of the HELP workshop will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii from August 19 - 30, 2024. For inquiries, please reach out to HELPcourse.ncdmph@usuhs.edu.

Below is a list of other HELP course offerings available to the public:

  • Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health: https://hopkinshumanitarianhealth.org/education/help-course/

  • University of Geneva: https://www.unige.ch/formcont/en/courses/health-emergencies-help#t1