8 May 08 HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Reports of malaria outbreaks and diarrhea in Myanmar's low-lying areas hardest hit by a disastrous cyclone have health experts scrambling to prevent widespread illness, U.N. health officials said Thursday.
An early estimate had 20 percent of children suffering from diarrhea in the worst-affected areas, and there are concerns that the situation could worsen, said Osamu Kunii, UNICEF's chief of health and nutrition in Yangon. "Most of the area is covered by dirty water," he said. "There's a lot of dead bodies, and (survivors) have very poor access — sometimes no access — to clean drinking water or food." Water purification tablets often do not help because much of the water supply has been contaminated by saltwater that flooded the area, he said, and that poses yet another problem for relief efforts.
It was unclear how many people may be suffering from malaria, but the mosquito-borne disease is endemic to the Irrawaddy delta, the area hardest hit by the storm, said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, deputy director of the WHO's Southeast Asia office in New Delhi. She said 10,000 mosquito nets were being sent to the area. There also have been reports of upper respiratory infections among children. "Safe water, sanitation, safe food. These are things that we feel are priorities at the moment," Singh said.
A WHO team from the Myanmar office is working to assess the situation, and a few international technical experts are making their way into the country, Singh said. Cyclone Nargis lashed the country's largest city, Yangon, along with its major rice-growing region this past weekend. Myanmar's state-run media has reported nearly 23,000 deaths and more than 42,000 missing. But a top U.S. diplomat has said the death toll could surpass 100,000. "It reminds me of the tsunami, when every day the figures kept rising, and that's really the pattern here," Singh said, referring to the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed nearly 230,000 people.
UNICEF's Kunii also responded to some of the worst tsunami-hit areas, and he said the situation in Myanmar is even worse in some ways because many more people suffered severe injuries this time from the strong winds, high tides and flooding. He also noted that after the tsunami, food, water and other basic necessities were much easier to access from inland areas that were not hit by the killer waves. "This time, it is quite difficult because most of the areas are quite remote and difficult to access," he said. "We are trying our best. We are using all our medical supplies and water purification and shelters." He said many people are scared about getting infections from the bloated bodies strewn throughout the area, but there have been no reports of infections linked to contact with corpses.
Tens of thousands of people die every year in Myanmar from widespread illnesses such as tuberculosis, AIDS and diarrhea. Malaria alone kills about 3,000 people annually, and children are often most vulnerable. In 2000, the WHO ranked the military-run country's health system as the world's worst after war-ravaged Sierra Leone.
Hospitals exist in Myanmar, also known as Burma, but most cannot afford treatment in a country where an estimated 90 percent of the population lives on just US$1 (€0.65) a day, millions go hungry and about one in three children is malnourished. Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 and the junta has been widely criticized for large-scale human rights abuses and suppression of pro-democracy parties. In September the military crushed peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks and pro-democracy activists, killing at least 31 people and leading to the arrest of thousands more. y John Bingham, PA Chief Reporter Fears of violence from increasingly desperate cyclone survivors in Burma mounted today as the first UN aid supplies finally arrived in the country. International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander told MPs that a plane carrying seven tonnes of high energy biscuits had landed in the secretive South East Asian state at 7.30am GMT with two more flights expected to travel there today.
But he conceded that it was still unclear whether the Burmese government would allow free access for humanitarian agencies to the areas worst hit by Cyclone Nargis which devastated parts of the country at the weekend. He added: "This is a very grave crisis on a scale not seen since the tsunami of 2004." Christian Aid said tensions were now mounting in the country where around one million people have been affected by the disaster. At least 22,000 people are known to have been killed in the disaster but it is feared there could be up to 100,000 dead.
Amid claims that the Burmese military regime is becoming increasingly detached from reality over the matter, international aid workers hoping for visas faced long queues and locked gates at the embassy in Bangkok. Ray Hasan, head of Asia policy at Christian Aid, said more detailed information now coming in from partner organisations in Burma revealing an increasingly desperate situation. Thousands of rotting human and animal bodies were now said to be threatening to spread disease five days after the cyclone struck and people are reportedly eating rice they had been keeping as seed, threatening to create a more protracted crisis.
Despite official denials of looting in the country, Mr Hasan said indications were that this was indeed taking place. He said: "The indications are the situation is getting increasingly tense and there is a sense that not enough is being done. "Communities are expecting assistance and assistance isn't being provided, certainly not in any significant manner, across the whole of the region it is nowhere near enough.
"There is evidence of looting because people are desperate and I think there is that sense growing right now of 'help has not come, why has it not come?'." He said it was not yet clear whether the tensions could further destabilise the country where pro-democracy protests last year were ruthlessly suppressed but added that they did create potential additional problems for aid agencies. "We don't have the evidence that it is being channelled to any particular target," he said. He added: "The message that needs to be got out there and needs to be pushed is the absolute necessity for the Burmese government to give unrestricted access to humanitarian workers to the affected areas particularly the Irrawaddy Delta." In a Commons statement Mr Alexander said the first UN World Food Programme (UNWFP) flight carrying seven tonnes of high energy biscuits had landed in Burma today and was being unloaded.
But he said: "It is too soon to have a view about the unloading and customs process." He added that a second flight with 18 tonnes of biscuits was currently in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and had landing rights for Burma. "The delays for these first two flights were due to delays in obtaining clearances," he said. He added that a third flight carrying a variety of humanitarian supplies would leave Dubai today and had clearance to land but a fourth remains in Italy while officials assess whether it would overwhelm airport facilities. A spokesman for the UNWFP said: "This is a very difficult operating environment, we are in constant negotiation with the authorities in Myanmar (Burma) and we remain hopeful that we can get as much assistance flown in as quickly as possible."
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