[Priorities in health activities in refugee camps (author's transl)].

In times of natural or man-made disasters, settlements of refugees in temporary camps face the health authorities with new public health problems. The allocation of priorities and resources among Medical Care, Prevention and Sanitation, and Nutrition are usually not based on objective assessment of the situation. The potential role of epidemiological techniques and particularly of the surveillance is illustrated by the case studies of the Bengladesh civil war and the Niger drought. A rational priority order will usually rank nutrition at the top and individual medical care at the bottom.