Network Paper 60: Mobile Health Units in Emergency Operations

Author(s)
Du Mortier, S. and Coninx, R.
Publication language
English
Pages
24pp
Date published
01 Jun 2007
Type
Research, reports and studies
Keywords
Conflict, violence & peace, Working in conflict setting, Health
Organisations
ODI
Mobile Health Units (MHUs) are often used to provide
health care in unstable situations, such as armed conflicts,
where fixed services cannot function for reasons of
security. They are, however, a controversial way of
providing health care, because of their cost, their irregular
service provision and their logistical complexities. Drawing
on the experience of the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) and on the relevant literature, this
Network Paper provides a decision-making framework for
health care workers considering whether to use MHUs. It
argues that, although a logical approach in contexts where
traditional permanent (fixed) health structures are
unavailable, absent, overburdened or dysfunctional, other
options should be considered before embarking on the
wholesale substitution of health care services through
mobile health units or other structures.
 
This paper is intended to guide public health professionals
providing health services at primary level in the process of
deciding whether to include Mobile Health Units in their
programmes. It gives an overview of the place of MHUs in a
health care system, and provides the theoretical background
to the decision-making process around how and when to set
them up. The paper elaborates on the strengths and
weaknesses of Mobile Health Units, and uses practical
examples both from the literature as well as from the
authors’ own field experiences to illustrate its argument.