The Hindu : International : U.N. warns of epidemics in Asia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 28, 2004

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International

U.N. warns of epidemics in Asia

GENEVA, DEC. 27. The United Nations today warned of epidemics within days unless the health systems in south and south-east Asia can cope after about 12,000 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless by giant tsunami waves.

Aid agencies round the world rushed staff, equipment and money to southern Asia. "This may be the worst national disaster in recent history because it is affecting so many heavily populated coastal areas ... so many vulnerable communities," the U.N.'s Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, told CNN.

"The longer term effects may be as devastating as the tidal wave or the tsunami itself ... Many more people are now affected by polluted drinking water. We could have epidemics within a few days unless we get health systems up and running." Government officials estimate that in Sri Lanka alone 750,000 people were forced from their homes.

Five concerns

Experts said that the top five concerns to be addressed were water, sanitation, food, shelter and health. "We've had reports already from the south of India of bodies rotting where they have fallen and that will immediately affect the water supply especially for the most impoverished people," said the Christian Aid emergency officer, Dominic Nutt.

Some affected areas have had communications cut. Others are so remote that it is impossible to know the extent of the damage.

Quick aid needed

"This is a massive humanitarian disaster and the communications are so bad we still don't know the full scale of it. Unless we get aid quickly to the people many more could die," said Phil Esmond, the head of the Oxfam in Sri Lanka.

The Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that it was seeking an immediate $ 6.5 million for emergency aid funding.

"This is a preliminary appeal. It will be revised after exact needs are evaluated," said the head of the federation's Asia Pacific Department, Simon Missiri.

Earlier, the federation released $ 870,000 from its disaster relief emergency fund to get assistance to the region.

"The biggest health challenges we face is the spread of waterborne diseases, particularly malaria and diarrhoea, as well as respiratory tract infections," the Red Cross Federation's senior health officer, Hakan Sandbladh, said in Geneva.

The federation said that it would send an assessment and coordination team to Sri Lanka, and had several emergency response units specialised in water and sanitation as well as field hospitals.

"Appropriate assistance"

The United States said that it would offer "all appropriate assistance" to Asian countries, with some aid already on its way to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

"We're looking at ways to help in the process," said the U.S. State Department spokesman, Noel Clay. "We're prepared to be very responsive."

The European Union (EU) pledged an initial $ 4 million and local news agency Belga said that Belgium had allocated 500,000 euros in emergency aid to be distributed by the E.U. and the Red Cross bodies.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in Geneva it was making an emergency cash grant of $ 50,000 to Sri Lanka for relief work and sending an evaluation team to the island.

It would decide on help for other affected countries as more information became available. It also offered to act as a channel for cash contributions for immediate assistance.

The emergency response director for the CARE aid agency in Geneva, Titon Mitra, said his group would focus on Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the eastern coast of India.

"Death tolls are likely to increase over time. I'm sure the numbers will go up," he said.

"What we don't know is the number of people who've been displaced, and what infrastructure has been affected. That's the critical point."

— Reuters

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