Emergency management department: the reform of disaster prevention, mitigation and relief system and mechanism has achieved remarkable results
CCTV News:On August 30th, the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee held a series of press conferences on the theme of "Ten Years in China", introducing the reform and development of emergency management in the new era and answering reporters’ questions.
Zhou Xuewen, Vice Minister of Emergency Management Department, said that on the whole, the barrier of disaster prevention is higher, the foundation of disaster reduction is firmer, the mechanism of disaster relief is more sensitive, and the effect of implementing "two persistences and three transformations" is obvious. Embody three new:
First, a new mechanism of integration of prevention, resistance and rescue has been established. In-depth reform of the system and mechanism of disaster prevention, mitigation and relief was promoted. The emergency management department and relevant departments clarified the responsibility relationship between prevention and rescue, condensed into a joint force to the greatest extent, established working mechanisms such as joint risk consultation and judgment, disaster acquisition and sharing, unified command and dispatch, and early warning of impending disasters, and explored and formed a flat emergency organization model. Leading cadres were on duty, and important positions were on duty 24 hours a day. The whole system always maintained a rapid response emergency state, and spared no effort to protect people’s lives and property.
The second is to promote the new level of disaster prevention and fortification. We carried out the first national comprehensive risk survey of natural disasters, found out the hidden dangers of disaster risks and the base number of disaster prevention facilities, accelerated the filling of shortcomings in the disaster prevention and mitigation engineering system, and coordinated the implementation of key projects such as earthquake-resistant reinforcement of housing facilities in earthquake-prone areas, improvement of flood control and drought relief water conservancy, and relocation of geological disasters, and the ability to prevent natural disasters was significantly improved. For example, in 2016 and 2022, there were two earthquakes of magnitude 6.4 and 6.9 in Menyuan, Qinghai Province. The latter one had a higher magnitude, but the number of collapsed houses was only 5% of the previous one, and the effectiveness of seismic strengthening of houses was obvious.
The third is to promote new breakthroughs in comprehensive support capabilities. The investment in science, technology, materials and equipment for disaster prevention, mitigation and relief has gradually increased, and the support capacity has been significantly strengthened. Six national regional emergency rescue centers started construction, and the layout of "a game of chess" was basically formed; Nearly 3 billion yuan of central emergency materials storage tasks have been completed, and the material support capacity to meet the peak demand of major disasters has been further improved. A number of heavy equipment such as UAV emergency communication, large-scale drainage vehicles and underwater robots have been installed one after another, and modern technology and equipment have been greatly improved.
According to statistics, from 2018 to 2021, the average number of people who died and disappeared due to disasters, the number of houses collapsed and the proportion of direct economic losses in GDP in China decreased by 51.6%, 73% and 44% respectively compared with the average in the five years before the reform, and the reform of disaster prevention, mitigation and relief system and mechanism showed results.