The government's Central Disaster Prevention Council held a meeting and approved an amendment to the national Basic Plan for Disaster Prevention, which includes the development of an initiative called "disaster case management" that provides support according to the circumstances of each disaster victim.
At a meeting of the Central Disaster Prevention Council held in the morning of March 30, attended by relevant ministers and representatives of disaster prevention organizations, a revised draft of the national disaster prevention basic plan was decided.
The plan newly included the development of an initiative called "disaster case management" as support for disaster victims according to the actual situation of the region.
"Disaster case management" has been introduced by some local governments due to a series of disaster-related deaths in past disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake, and it is said that providing detailed support according to the circumstances of each disaster victim, such as people evacuating not only at evacuation centers but also at home, will lead to the prevention of disaster-related deaths and the reconstruction of their lives.
In the future, we will encourage local governments nationwide to develop the system.
The plan also includes a revision of the "Maritime Disaster Preparedness" to include strengthening safety measures for a small passenger ship following the sinking of a sightseeing boat off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido last April.
These include
providing education and training to seafarers of small passenger ships to learn the characteristics of each sea area,
and making it mandatory to have radio equipment that can reliably communicate with them and devices that can transmit their location in the event of distress.
Prime Minister Kishida: "Take all possible preparations for flood-prone periods"
Prime Minister Kishida said, "The past year has seen major natural disasters such as heavy rains and typhoons, and this week there is a possibility of heavy rain falling over a wide area of the country due to the influence of Typhoon No. 1, and the response to intensifying and frequent disasters is an important issue that cannot be postponed. Once again, we must renew our thoughts on disaster preparedness, further strengthen disaster countermeasures, and raise disaster prevention awareness among each and every citizen."
He then instructed the relevant ministers to make further efforts for disaster prevention and mitigation and to take all possible measures for flood-prone periods.