National Week for Disaster Prevention and Control launched

Around 300 people are killed or go missing as a result of natural disasters in Vietnam every year, in addition to causing an economic loss of between 1 and 1.5 per cent of GDP.

Natural disasters also have long-term consequences for the environment, production activities, and people’s lives, as well as affecting the country’s sustainable development.

In order to raise public awareness regarding natural disaster prevention and control, the Prime Minister has designated May 15-25 as a national week for natural disaster prevention and control.

Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, underscored the importance of the community in reducing the economic and production losses in addition to the loss of human lives when the public are well equipped with essential skills to help them cope with natural disasters.

At the event, Deputy PM Dung also urged residents and local authorities at all levels to come up with plans that serve to protect the lives and property of local residents in order to mitigate the impact of natural calamities.

He asked relevant ministries and localities to deploy a number of practical activities that could contribute to preventing natural disasters during this year’s storm season.

Deputy PM Dung also underlined the need to revamp policies on natural disaster prevention, the readiness of agencies to cope with the impact of disaster, search and rescue activities, the upgrading of infrastructure, dyke systems, and storm shelters that meet the requirements of natural disaster prevention in the coming time.