Mass Gatherings and Public Health
The Experience of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games
Edited by: Agis D. Tsouros and Panos A. Efstathiou
The Regional Office for
Available online as PDF [402p] at: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e90712.pdf
“….Large-scale mass gatherings, such as the Olympic Games, represent significant challenges for the entire health sector of host countries. Emerging global public health threats of natural or deliberate nature increase considerably the health and safety vulnerability of mass gatherings.
Major areas of public health responsibility include health care capacity and mass-casualty preparedness; disease surveillance and outbreak response; environmental health and food safety; public information and health promotion; public health preparedness and response to incidents potentially involving the deliberate use of explosives, biological and chemical agents or radio nuclear material; and leadership, operations and unified command.
This book comprehensively and systematically presents the experience of and lessons learned from the public health aspects of the preparations and conduct of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Documenting this experience can be a source of valuable information and knowledge for governments at all levels and communities in building their capacity for not only large-scale events but also preparing to deal with the avian influenza pandemic threat or other emergencies such as flooding and phenomena often associated with climate change….”
“….Mass gatherings, such as the Olympic Games, represent significant challenges for the public health system and the health care system. Mass gatherings are typically defined as more than 1000 people at a specific location for a defined period of time
(1). Much of the literature, however, describes events with more than 25 000 attendees. The term special event medical care has also been used and has been
defined as “the provision of preventive measures, or definitive, primary care, or hospital referral to persons attending or participating in major sports, recreational or political events”
(2). Characteristics of mass gatherings that impact public health services include large attendance, duration of the event and security concerns. The incidence of illness and injury at mass gatherings is believed to be higher than would occur naturally in a population of comparable size
(3). Environmental factors, such as weather, can contribute to large numbers of ill people….”
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