title: A comparison of the medium-term impact and recovery of the Pakistan floods and the Haiti earthquake: objective and subjective measures.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The 2010 Haiti earthquake and Pakistan floods were similar in their massive human impact. Although the specific events were very different, the humanitarian response to disasters is supposed to achieve the same ends. This paper contrasts the disaster effects and aims to contrast the medium-term response.
  
  
  METHODS
  In January 2011, similarly structured population-based surveys were carried out in the most affected areas using stratified cluster designs (80×20 in Pakistan and 60×20 in Haiti) with probability proportional to size sampling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Displacement persisted in Haiti and Pakistan at 53% and 39% of households, respectively. In Pakistan, 95% of households reported damage to their homes and loss of income or livelihoods, and in Haiti, the rates were 93% and 85%, respectively. Frequency of displacement, and income or livelihood loss, were significantly higher in Pakistan, whereas disaster-related deaths or injuries were significantly more prevalent in Haiti.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the rise in disaster frequency and costs, and the volatility of humanitarian funding streams as a result of the recent global financial crisis, it is increasingly important to measure the impact of humanitarian response against the goal of a return to normalcy.
authors.affiliation: 1Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,Baltimore,Maryland USA.
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: 1Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,Baltimore,Maryland USA.
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Kirsch
authors.affiliation: 1Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,Baltimore,Maryland USA.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doocy
authors.affiliation: 1Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,Baltimore,Maryland USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perrin
mesh_terms: D003710:Demography; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D055868:Floods; D006205:Haiti / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012066:Relief Work; D018635:Rescue Work; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology