United Nations Radio

This year, 2008 has been so far a terrible year in terms of the number of victims from disasters.

According to the head of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Salvano Briceno, more than 229,000 people have been killed in the first six months of this year and more than 130 million affected.

Speaking on the eve of the International Day for Disaster Reduction, Briceno points to the cyclone in Myanmar, the earthquake in China's Sichuan province, floods in India and a deadly drought in the Horn of Africa as devastating disasters that highlighted the urgent need to reduce disaster risk and vulnerability to natural hazards.

"International Day for Disaster reduction is a day to recall the number of people that are killed and affected every day by disasters triggered by natural hazards and to call for more disaster risk reduction action in general. We want to put also the emphasis on the hospitals safety since this year we are in the middle of a campaign with the World Health Organization and the World Bank to make hospitals safer as one essential way to reduce disasters."

To put it in context, Briceno says more people have already been killed in the first six months this year than all the victims of the 2004 tsunami in Asia.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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