Disaster Risk Reduction in Myanmar

The publication on Disaster Risk Reduction in Myanmar by Smith and Chan ¹ concluded that although Myanmar’s Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction addressed multiple stages of disaster development and has made progress toward national projects, it has struggled to implement community-based preparedness and response initiatives. In fact, as a tropical country in Indochina, Myanmar is located in an area that is prone to several natural disasters. Every year, there are many monsoons followed by local floods. Our experiences in disaster management emphasize that both the lack of essential public health infrastructure and unstable political and social protections contribute greatly to the mismanagement of the disasters, especially resulting in a delayed response without the benefit of otherwise effective preventive action. For example, in Thailand, despite a continued history of large flood disasters, there is still no good preparedness planning against future flooding among local health centers. ² This is just one more example of the importance of recognizing the entire disaster cycle with emphasis on prevention and preparedness, not just the response phase alone.