GENEVA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Wednesday called for urgent world action to better protect hospitals from natural disasters.

    Dozens of hospitals and heath facilities each year are themselves impacted by floods, hurricanes, cyclones, earthquakes and other natural hazards, which exacerbates the already large-scale human suffering, said a UN statement issued on the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Reduction.

    The statement, issued jointly by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners, said hospitals, clinics and other health facilities were "the very services that are most needed to save lives."

    But these facilities, especially in developing countries, are often vulnerable to natural disasters because safety measures are not integrated in their design, location or construction.

    There are at least 90,000 hospitals and other health facilities in the world's 49 least-developed countries, many of which are vulnerable to disasters, including those related to the harmful effects of climate change, said the statement.

    And a recent WHO survey shows that only 50 percent of all country's heath sectors have a budget allocation for risk reduction and emergency preparedness.

    "No new hospital should be built unless it can withstand the impact of natural hazards," said Margareta Wahlstrom, special representative of the UN secretary-general for disaster risk reduction, in the statement.

    "Existing health facilities should also be assessed for their safety and action taken to improve their safety and the level of their preparedness," she stressed.