Military in Humanitarian Aid - the role of Public Health Experts

During the German military humanitarian mission in the tsunami affected areas of northern Sumatra a consultant of Public Health/tropical medicine (PH) was involved from the beginning of the fact-finding until the redeployment phase. Based on his information obtained from international NGO/GO and on his close cooperation with the IDN government it was possible to integrate the German military aid approach into a sustainable international concept with long term perspectives. Facilitated by the steady presence of PH in specific health sector meetings it was possible to utilize the whole package of German military assets in projects with a high public health impact (e.g. comprehensive malaria control campaign). On the other hand a reasonable preparation of the German troops in Banda Aceh was feasible as e.g. epidemiological data could be used as a basis for medical force health protection.