Additional ways to Reduce Earthquake Damage and Casualties 

With appropriate design and construction techniques, it is feasible to protect facilities so they remain in operation after an event. Protection costs are affordable. And though codes provide minimum standards which may not be sufficient for healthcare facilities, Clients in consultation with their consultants should select - on informed and rational bases - appropriate design criteria for facilities of differing importance. As such, there may be justification for site-specific and project-specific studies for large or critical facilities.

Special factors to be taken into consideration by facility designers and suppliers need to be consciously spelt out by Ministries of Health. The aim is to design healthcare facilities so that they function with little degradation in efficiency in times of major earthquakes.

In addition, Health Policy Makers should:

• Review national earthquake response plans with particular emphasis on the medical and health services.
  
  
• Develop all-hazard disaster risk reduction strategy for health care sector based on worst case (=earthquake) scenario.
  
  
• Support strengthening of medical and health services in the context of earthquake response.
  
  
• Review on an ongoing basis, the conditions of facilities and their standards, noting that standards should change as knowledge increases.