Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions—and the devastation they inflict—are all too familiar to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. In the last decade, natural disasters have caused more than 45,000 deaths in the region, left 40 million injured or in need of assistance, and carried a price tag—in direct damage alone—of more than US$20 The health sector has proven particularly vulnerable to such havoc. In the course of the past 20 years, as a result of natural disasters, more than 100 hospitals and 650 health centers have collapsed or been so severely damaged that they had to be evacuated. According to the United Nations Economic Commission.
