Preparedness of Disaster Management in Ghana

Abstract

Disasters cause a lot of harm to properties and loss of lives. Disaster management and preparedness is very important as we know that not all disasters can be avoided. Therefore, a systematic review of peer-reviewed papers on disaster preparedness in Ghana was conducted. The aim of this review study was to identify the factors that influence preparedness of disasters, aimed at informing policy towards disaster management in Ghana. A total of 21 papers were reviewed, 4 study populations namely; Household/Community, Library staff, Health workers and Public/Governmental Bodies and 7 factors that influence preparedness were identified as follows: Educational level, Financial, Knowledge/Training, Cooperative/Managerial Social, Health and Physical.  The results showed that Knowledge and Training was the major factor that influenced preparedness of disaster management followed by Cooperative and Managerial factors. Governmental Bodies, NGOs and Private Institutions are recommended to make disaster management equipment affordable and accessible. Also, institutions should be set up to offer trainings on disaster management.