Disaster preparedness--formalizing a comparative advantage for the Department of Defense in U.S. global health and foreign policy.

Disaster preparedness is a comparative advantage of the Department of Defense (DoD) in the global health arena. It is in line with the domestic interest of sustaining foreign natural disaster assistance and the foreign policy interest of maintaining national security. The DoD humanitarian assistance policy guidance published in 2009 states Disaster Preparedness should be considered as a key priority in humanitarian assistance engagement. Unfortunately, a whole of government disaster preparedness program framework does not exist to facilitate effective and efficient implementation. Leveraging the United Nations Hyogo Framework for Action agreed upon by 168 nations to take action and reduce disaster risk by 2015, the DoD could synchronize disaster preparedness efforts with other interagency and international partners. Increased civilian-military cooperation in disaster risk reduction supports the whole of government approach to work in a more coherent manner in pursuit of shared foreign policy goals. It also maximizes the ability to deliver critical national capacity in the health sector and beyond. Disaster preparedness is an essential element of U.S. global health and foreign policy, and the DoD must be a critical partner in a whole of government approach.