Prevention is the most effective measures for disaster reduction

The necessity, importance and urgency of prevention, just as the former general secretary of UN Annam said:“First, we must change our idea about disaster from reaction to prevention. Prevention is more humane and cheaper than salvation. We should not forget that prevent disaster is morally imperative, more important than war reduction.” As a developing country with a large population, and one of the few countries with the worst natural disaster in the world, insist “prevention first” is very important.

Our country have established “prevention first” as the basic prescription for dealing with natural disasters since the beginning of the new China. On the 98th council meeting in August, 1951, when talked about the report of agriculture production and disaster relief in north China, premier Zhouenlai required the ministry of agriculture should take the “prevention first” to deal with disasters, just as the ministry of health dealing with disease. After 20 days, on the 101st council meeting, when talked about the national situation of flood, Premier Zhou stressed the importance of prevention to disasters again, he said that we can prevent next year’s disaster this year and prevent the disaster in the future now. In March 1966, there were two earthquakes strike Xingtai, Hebei Province. Premier Zhou urgently deployed the work of relieve, and stressed the prevention for earthquake at the same time. Because of the preparedness, the losses in 22nd March were less than 8th March. Premier Zhou said to the representatives of national earthquake conference on February 7, 1970 that prediction and prevention are more important than relive sometimes, don’t just only to save after the disaster.

Since then, our country began to use the “prevention first” to help the disaster reduction in all aspects: combine the prevention, defense and relief in the field of earthquake prevention and disaster reduction; combine the prevention and treatment in the field of geological disaster prevention and control; put the prevention in the first in the field of flood and drought control. “Prevention first” has guided us to build water conservancy projects, prevent the insect disease, carry out the earthquake prediction, resist the earthquake and manage geological hazards, which laid a solid foundation for disaster reduction.