Data for: Spatial-temporal analysis of natural hazards and disasters in the Greater Horn of Africa between 2010 and 2024 to inform disaster risk reduction, and surveillance and control strategies for climate and environmentally sensitive diseases

Objective: To determine the spatial-temporal patterns of natural hazards
and disasters in the Greater Horn of Africa and compare the reporting
consistencies across multiple open-access databases. Design:
Cross-sectional retrospective secondary analysis of natural hazard and
disaster data. Setting: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia,
Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda. Data sources: Primary data from the
Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), and comparative data from ReliefWeb,
WHO Disease Outbreak News (WHO-DON), FloodList, and Global Unique Disaster
Identifier Number (GLIDE). Results: EM-DAT reported 228 natural hazards
and disasters affecting 145.7 million people; the highest number reported
in Uganda (n=48), Kenya (n=46), Somalia (n=38), and Ethiopia (n=35);
annual numbers ranged from 7 to 30 (median 14); 175 geophysical.
hydrological, meteorological, and climatological hazards reported,
including 118 floods, 26 droughts, 11 storms, and 17 landslides; 46
epidemics reported, primarily bacterial (e.g. cholera) or viral (e.g.
yellow fever, measles) diseases. The reporting consistency and content
varied considerably across the five databases. Conclusion: Natural hazards
and disasters are a major public health problem affecting millions of
vulnerable people. There is an urgent need to improve the connectedness of
databases to facilitate better monitoring and mapping, which can inform
disease forecasting and decision tools to develop preparedness and
intervention strategies.