IRIN
MYANMAR: Public health "catastrophe" looms
11 May 2008


BANGKOK, 11 May 2008 (IRIN) - An estimated 1.5 million people in Myanmar 
are on the brink of a "massive public health catastrophe," the British 
charity Oxfam warned this weekend, as reports say desperate survivors of 
cyclone Nargis pour out of the Irrawaddy Delta into regional towns in 
search of water, food and other forms of help.

The dire warning - and a plea for greater international access to the 
area - came after the United Nations and non-governmental organisations 
issued a flash appeal for US$187 million. a risk assessment which, as 
well as waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid, warns of an 
increased threat of malaria and dengue fever, as receding floods will 
increase the number of breeding sites for mosquitos. The WHO's latest 
update reports cases of diarrhoea and dysentery in the affected areas.

Immediately after the cyclone, Myanmar's government appealed for 
international help with the catastrophe.

But so far the authorities have refused to allow most foreign aid 
workers to enter the country, saying it preferred to receive supplies 
that the army, and the Myanmar Red Cross, which has close ties to the 
regime, can distribute themselves.

"Currently Myanmar has prioritised receiving emergency relief provisions 
and making strenuous effort of delivering it with its own labour to the 
affected areas," the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said on 9 
May. "Myanmar is not in a position to receive rescue and information 
teams from foreign countries at the moment," it added.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International              web: www.cidi.org
   Disaster Information          listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                               guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis           www.cidi.org/incident/myanmar-08e