_|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

[Giuseppe]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 17 - 23 May 2008

WHO South East Asia Regional Office Website:www.searo.who.int Email: searnargis@searo.who.int

? HIGHLIGHTS
1. No disease outbreaks are reported.

2. There will be an ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon on 25 May, attended by the UN Secretary General, representatives from UN agencies, international NGOs and major donors. The conference will discuss the Myanmar Government?s requirements for rebuilding, which is estimated to cost USD 11 billion. ASEAN is expected to present a framework of action.

3. The international media reports that Myanmar agrees to allow all international aid workers into the country for relief work, following discussions between the UN Secretary-General and the Myanmar government.

? HEALTH ASSESSMENT
? No disease outbreaks are reported. The numbers of reported cases of diseases are within the margins of normal seasonal trends.

? UNICEF has vaccinated 1000 children between the ages of nine months and five years in Labutta township for measles. Their mothers have been given tetanus-toxoid vaccine shots.

? WHO staff visiting temporary shelters in Pyapon have reported that number of outpatients is decreasing. Drug supplies are adequate.

? The Thai medical team has reported that they have treated 300-400 people in temporary shelters hosting 12 000 people.

? There is an urgent need for clean water in the shelters.

? In moderately affected places like Pyapon, the emergency is moving to recovery phase. The damaged hospital roof has been mended, houses have been repaired people are moving back to their homes.

? While recovery is starting in some areas, the worst-affected areas are still in emergency phase. Relief efforts will continue for the people who still have not been reached with adequate emergency assistance.

? SITUATION UPDATE
? There will be an ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon on 25 May, attended by the Un Secretary General, representatives from UN agencies, international NGOs and major donors. The meeting will discuss the Myanmar Government?s requirements for rebuilding, which is estimated to cost USD 11 billion. ASEAN is expected to present a framework of action.

? The international media has reported that Myanmar has agreed to allow all international aid workers for relief work in cyclone-affected areas, following discussions between the UN Secretary General and the Myanmar government.

? The first of ten WFP helicopters, each of which can carry up to three metric tonnes of essential supplies to out-of-reach survivors in the Ayeyarwady delta, has arrived in Yangon. This will help improve distribution of supplies to the more remote areas.

? Heavy rains continue to hamper relief work, as the wet and muddy ground makes it difficult even to set up even tents.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Surveillance
? WHO and seven health partners have established a working group to focus on disease surveillance for early warning and response to outbreaks. To support this group, WHO Myanmar team has been strengthened with an epidemiologist.

? Health partners have agreed that disease surveillance will be based on both formal systems and informal methods of rumour verification.

2. Mental Health
? Many partners express concern about the mental health situation and a sub-group is being formed within the health cluster to focus on this issue.

? IOM doctors have been trained and briefed on psychosocial needs.

3. Supplies
? To date, WHO has distributed 20 000 ORS sachets in affected areas of Ayeyarwady division.

? Two WHO logisticians are in Myanmar to assist in procurement and distribution of supplies.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? Merlin has been invited to co-chair all health cluster meetings.

? IOM has opened a sub-office in Bogale. The organization has three medical teams in the field.

? NEXT STEPS
? The Health Cluster?s joint plan of action for six months, which encompass the relief and recovery phase and carries contingency provisions against major outbreaks, is being finalized.

? WHO continues to advocate with the donors to mobilize stronger support for the health sector. Till 18 May 2008, USD 6.2 million has been mobilized. The Flash Appeal will be revised and readjusted during the coming weeks as assessments bring in clearer information on needs.
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[Sally Furniss]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

UN opens air base to help Burma relief

Saturday, 24 May 2008 14:29
<rte:body></rte:body>The UN has opened a relief staging post at an airport in Bangkok to help speed up the cyclone aid effort in neighbouring Burma.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was on hand to open the hub just a day after talks with Burma's junta leader Than Shwe, which he said led to an agreement to let foreign aid workers into the country.

As aid agencies said they were still awaiting word on whether foreigners would get access to the southern Irrawaddy Delta hit hardest by Cyclone Nargis, an area that has been off-limits, the UN Secretary General said he believed they would get in.
Advertisement

The hub has been set up at Bangkok's Don Mueang airport, which used to be the capital's main international gateway, and includes a 20,000 square metre warehouse to hold relief supplies.

The first flight was to leave from the hub later in the day, carrying 12 tonnes of aid including 77,000 mosquito nets, 2,200 tarpaulins and school supplies.

Cyclone Nargis left at least 133,000 people dead or missing, according to Burma's regime.
The UN says 2.4m people are in dire need of emergency relief.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0524/burma.html

[Giuseppe]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 18 - 24 May 2008
WHO South East Asia Regional Office Website:www.searo.who.int Email: searnargis@searo.who.int

? HIGHLIGHTS
1. Reportedly 150 000 people are in 120 formal and informal temporary shelters.

2. More than 2000 medical experts from the Government and NGOs, plus 39 000 Red Cross and private health workers have been deployed in the affected area since the beginning of the emergency.

3. WHO is mobilizing additional experts from its global network to strengthen its office in Myanmar according to the needs of the Country as revealed by new assessments.

4. ASEAN is setting in place a coordination structure for their support to Myanmar, which could involve a Task Force comprising of the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN.

? HEALTH ASSESSMENT
? An NGO reports that at least 150 000 people are in 120 temporary shelters. These include formal government-run camps, as well as informal shelters in monasteries and schools.

? An IOM assessment team of seven doctors and two nurses left Yangon for the delta area on 22 May. They will attempt to reach remote areas by using inflatable boats. They will use the Bogale hub as a base to assess health needs in the worst affected areas.

? SITUATION UPDATE
? As roads can become inaccessible due to the monsoon, boats will become an important means of transportation.

? The Bangkok airlift is now open. UNHCR reported that flights are delayed and/or cancelled. Fuel is not yet a bottle neck.

? International aid is arriving into the country. On 22 May, more than 90 metric tonnes of supplies including medicines, water purifiers, mosquito nets, plastic sheets and food, arrived at Yangon airport,
according to the state media.

? ASEAN is setting in place a coordination structure for their support to Myanmar, which could involve a Task Force comprising of the government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN.

? The International Pledging Conference to be held in Yangon on 25 May will take stock of the needs for the emergency and recovery phase, from the government, UN and ASEAN perspectives. More than 200 people are expected to participate.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Surveillance
? The working group on disease surveillance in the health cluster is setting in place a system of rumour verification as a first step to improve rapid detection, reporting and analysis of health threats in the affected divisions.

2. Health Action
? The Myanmar government informed in a news release on 22 May that 2029 medical experts from the Government and NGOs, and 39 000 Red Cross Society and private health workers, have been working in the affected area since the start of the crisis.

? IOM reports that their doctors are treating over 100 patients every day from its new operational hub in Bogale, one of the most severely affected townships.

? To help children cope, UNICEF has partnered with NGOs to provide technical assistance for recreational activities, life skills, non-formal education and first aid. More than a third of the affected population is estimated to be children.

? Mental health remains a concern. WHO has been working with the government to develop national capacity for psychosocial support even before the cyclone, and plans to build on that work now to increase local capacity.

3. Supplies
? IOM has distributed 14 metric tonnes of essential drugs.

? The organization has also received 10 000 treated mosquito nets from the Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? A 15-member Singaporean medical team has arrived in Yangon, with 1.27 tonnes of medical equipment and supplies.

? The cluster approach will continue to be the coordination structure for UN agencies and INGOS providing assistance to the cyclone-affected areas.

? The health facility established in Bogale hub by IOM has been approved by the Ministry of Health.

? The health cluster is forming a mental health and psychosocial support group, which is likely to be co-chaired by IOM and Merlin.

? NEXT STEPS
? WHO is mobilizing additional experts from its global network to strengthen its office in Myanmar according to the needs of the country as revealed by new assessments.

? The Health Cluster?s joint plan of action for six months, which encompass the relief and recovery phase and carries contingency provisions against major outbreaks, is being finalized.

? WHO continues to advocate with the donors to mobilize stronger support for the health sector. Till 18 May 2008, USD 6.2 million has been mobilized. The Flash Appeal will be revised and readjusted during the coming weeks as assessments bring in clearer information on needs.
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[Giuseppe]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

Maps and atlases on agriculture in Myanmar

New FAO website offers access to Digital Agricultural Atlas

26 May 2008, Bangkok ?

FAO has launched a new website offering a wide range of data and information tools on agriculture in Myanmar.

The site contains downloadable digital and printed atlases, maps from the FAO-maintained GeoNetwork digital library, agroclimatic charts and crop calendars, and related agriculture, forestry and fisheries publications.

The site also includes the recently released 120-page Digital Agricultural Atlas of the Union of Myanmar, a collection of Geographical Information System (GIS)-derived maps, tabular data and related documents depicting political, physical and agricultural resources in Myanmar.

Since nearly four-fifths of Myanmar?s population earns its living from the land, raising crops, livestock and fish, reconstruction efforts following the devastating cyclone Nargis will be crucial.

?FAO is eager to provide its tools, data and analysis to all those involved in reconstruction efforts, in order to assist the people of Myanmar in rapidly rebuilding their livelihoods,? said Alexander M?ller, Assistant Director-General.

?Detailed atlases and data constitute - more than ever before - an essential tool to quantify needs assessments and focus disaster relief operations,? said Ren? Gommes, Senior Officer in the FAO Climate Change Group.
-

http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000846/index.html

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http://www.fao.org/nr/myanmar/myan-home_en.htm

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http://www.fao.org/nr/myanmar/page4_en.htm

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[Giuseppe]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 19 - 26 May 2008

WHO South East Asia Regional Office Website:www.searo.who.int Email: searnargis@searo.who.int

? HIGHLIGHTS
1. To date, relief has reached about 40 per cent of the 2.5 million affected people. A large share of them are reportedly in urgent need of basic healthcare.

2. More than US$50 million has been pledged at the International Conference held on 25 May 2008. However, the UN Flash Appeal remains seriously under-funded.

3. ASEAN has established a mechanism to coordinate assistance into Myanmar. A Tripartite Core Group chaired by the Government will deal with all operational issues regarding international ssistance.

? HEALTH ASSESSMENT AND SITUATION UPDATE
? More than 50 countries pledged over US$50 million at the International Conference held in Yangon on 25 May 2008. However, The UN Secretary General called for greater support to the US$201 million UN Flash Appeal. So far only 20 per cent of the funds have been disbursed, while another 20 per cent has been pledged.

? ASEAN has established a mechanism to coordinate international assistance to Myanmar. A Tripartite Core Group will be chaired by the Government of Myanmar and have representatives from the Government, ASEAN and the UN. This group will deal with the receipt, movement, delivery and monitoring of international assistance.

? According to OCHA, an estimated 42 per cent of the 2.5 million affected people have been reached by relief to date. However, in the 15 worst-affected townships, only 23 per cent of the two million affected have received assistance.

? An ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team (ERAT), in collaboration with the UN, has been working on field assessments, analysis, and in consultation with government officials, formulating recommendations on the way forward.

? A multi-sector rapid assessment tool has been agreed on by the clusters, to identify priority emergency needs at the village level, and to provide baseline data.

? A rapid assessment of the food and nutrition needs will be available by the end of the week.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Funding
? The Norwegian Government, the Italian Government and USAID have pledged directly to WHO, US$ 1.4 million, 750 000 EURO and US$ 500,000 respectively.

? The Governments of Canada, Sweden, Spain, China, Philippines and the Republic of Korea have not specified their pledges yet.

2. Health Action
? No outbreaks are reported.

? The Thai medical team has treated more than 2500 patients in the past week. Most cases were for diarrhoea, and a third of the patients were children.

? At least seven countries have sent medical teams to work in the affected areas in Myanmar. A 30-member team from the Philippines is expected on 26 May 2008, and Indonesia, Japan and Belgium will send teams in the next few days.

? WHO briefed an advance Japanese team present in Myanmar to assess the placement of the expected medical team. Guidelines on malaria, cholera and diarrhoea were shared with them.

? Mercy Malaysia has sent a four-member team for assessments and training support for doctors.

3. Supplies
? There are 27 water treatment plants that can cater to approximate one million people in the affected regions.

? Over 460 000 people have benefited from 3100 tonnes of food delivered to date.

? WFP helicopters are in place to deliver relief supplies to remote areas.

? Six boats are also plying the waterways to bring supplies into the delta.

? A WFP boat loaded with rice and high energy biscuits has left for Myanmar.

? Twenty six UN relief aircraft will be sent with supplies from various agencies including WHO.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? The Health Cluster is establishing a sub-group focusing on malaria.

? WHO organized a technical update on malaria and dengue fever focused on the cyclone-affected areas. It was attended by UN agencies and twelve NGOs. Participants discussed possible interventions to prevent and contain outbreaks and requested medicines and diagnostic test kits. They were invited to contribute to the development of a joint plan of action for prevention and control of malaria and dengue.

? UNICEF will supply the diagnostic test kits and malaria drugs on request from NGOs.

? WHO shared information on prophylaxis for aid workers traveling to the affected areas.

? NEXT STEPS
? The UN Flash Appeal is likely to be revised on 10 June.

? The WASH cluster has proposed a water and sanitation training institute.
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[Giuseppe]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 20 - 28 May 2008

WHO South East Asia Regional Office Website:www.searo.who.int Email: searnargis@searo.who.int

? HIGHLIGHTS
1. The early warning disease surveillance system, involving both informal and formal reporting, is now running. The first reports are expected next week.

2. Remote areas are being accessed. Relief work is being intensified while early recovery is starting.

3. The Flash Appeal is being revised and will include revitalization of health facilities at township level and strengthening disease surveillance.

? HEALTH ASSESSMENT AND SITUATION UPDATE
? Cases of severe diarrhoea and dengue heamorrhagic fever are being investigated.

? Along with water-borne diseases, vector-borne diseases and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) remain a concern as these cases are expected to increase in the rainy season.

? More than 170 000 people are in 310 informal shelters and government-run settlements in the 15 priority townships, according to the UN. The government is preparing to provide longer-term services.

? In addition to the Government, over 95 civil society groups are operating in the worst affected townships.

? According to State media, shelters in Labutta have adequate health services, and clean water with the main source regularly chlorinated.

? The UN reports that nearly a million people have been reached through the combined efforts of the Myanmar Red Cross, UN, international and national NGOs as of 20 May 2008. However regular supply lines have been difficult to establish as access is limited by broken bridges and blocked roads.

? Pun Hlaing International Hospital is providing relief in the delta areas of Ngapudaw and Hain-Gyi, where damage has been extensive. A Medical Team of eight doctors, four nurses, one pharmacist and four volunteers left on 21st May to set up a mini hospital and mobile medical units at Thyin-Ka-Gon. This team was reinforced by a second team on 24 May. Some areas are accessible only by boat, making
operations difficult.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Funding
? The Flash Appeal will be revised in view of the increase in the estimates of the affected population. Preliminary estimates are that the Health Cluster will need US$28 million. The revised Flash Appeal will include revitalization of health facilities at township level and strengthening disease surveillance.

2. Health Action
? Medical teams from more than 70 countries are expected to arrive in Myanmar in the next 3-6 months.

? WHO has briefed medical teams that have already arrived, and is exploring the possibility of establishing induction training for them in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and partner agencies.

? WHO, IFRC and MRCS are conducting one day refresher training of Red Cross volunteers to be deployed in the affected areas. The first batch, with 38 participants, was trained today, and nine more batches will be trained on 30 May to 10 June 2008. WHO will focus on training for malaria and dengue prevention and control.

? IOM mobile medical teams continue to work from Bogale. One team focuses on displaced people hosted in temples and other temporary urban shelters. The other three teams reach out to communities in the south of Bogale and in Mawlamyinegyun, often by boat. IOM have been visiting 220 temporary shelters with a population of 1100 people in three different locations in the Township of Mawlamyinegyun.

? The WHO Country Office is being strengthened with five more experts who are expected to join the team within the next few days.

3. Disease Surveillance
? WHO presented the Early Warning Disease Surveillance System. The system will have two tracks:
o The informal system will collect information and rumours on possible outbreaks through daily telephone contact with every concerned agency.
o The formal system will involve reporting forms and agreed case definitions, and a system of weekly reporting (Sunday to Saturday).
o Agencies are to provide reports to WHO by Sunday. The bulletin will be available by Tuesday. The system is flexible and can additional sites or agencies, including MoH, as needed.
o The first reporting period is Sunday 1 June to Saturday 7 June with the first bulletin slated for Tuesday 10 June.

? Laboratory support for specimen collecting will be established in each township, with Yangon Central Reference Laboratory providing support.

? On a related but different note, WHO and concerned agencies are taking measures to re-establish TB surveillance.

4. Supplies
? Seven WHO interagency health kits have arrived in Myanmar.

? WHO has developed a comprehensive logistics tracking database and has requested all partners to feed into it.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? In response to the request from MOH, WHO will provide drugs, insecticides, fogging machines, rapid diagnostic tests, and bednets for Malaria and Dengue prevention to a total of around USD 1 million.

? In Bogale successful local coordination involving UNICEF, IOM,WFP, UNHCR, ACF, MSF and a local NGO has led to a Joint Emergency Response Mobile Operation. The objectives are to provide multisectoral services while minimizing cost and maximizing the impact of services.

? Health Cluster participation is increasing with almost 70 people from 30-40 organization attending the meeting on 27 May.

? Cluster sub-groups have been formed on HIV/AIDS, Early Recovery and psychosocial support.

? NEXT STEPS
? An Early Recovery Strategy is being finalized. This will be incorporated into the Health Cluster Joint Action Plan.

? The revised UN Flash Appeal is likely to be launched around 10 June.
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[Treyfish]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

US warships to leave after Myanmar refuses aid <!--Friday, June 06, 2008-->
Web posted at: 6/5/2008 7:13:14
Source ::: REUTERS

bangkok ? US warships will soon leave waters near Myanmar after the ruling military junta refused permission for the delivery of aid supplies to the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta, a top US commander said yesterday.
Admiral Timothy Keating said the USS Essex group will sail away from the former Burma today but leave several heavy-lift helicopters in neighboring Thailand to help in the relief effort. ?Should the Burmese rulers have a change of heart and request our full assistance for their suffering we are prepared to help,? Keating, commander of US forces in the Pacific, said.
Myanmar has been promised millions of dollars in aid from the United States, other governments and aid organizations. Cyclone Nargis, which hit a month ago, is believed to have left 134,000 people dead or missing and 2.4 million destitute. But the junta has refused to allow the US military to help distribute aid to affected areas, apparently fearing that a large-scale international relief effort would loosen the grip the generals have held since a 1962 coup. In Washington, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino again pressed the Myanmar government to allow in aid workers. ?The Burmese regime must permit all international aid workers the access necessary to provide the urgently-needed assistance,? she said in a statement. ?There is no more time to waste.?
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej told visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in Bangkok that the junta had rejected foreign military help in delivering cyclone aid because it feared it could be seen as an invasion. Keating said they had made 15 attempts over the past three weeks to convince the regime to allow in US helicopters and landing craft, ?but they have refused us each and every time.? The US had delivered more than 2 million pounds of relief supplies on 106 airlifts to Myanmar since the first US military aid flight on May 12, Keating said. http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Dis...8060571314.xml

[Treyfish]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

Irrawaddy: One month after Cyclone Nargis ? Aung Thet Wine
Wed 4 Jun 2008
Filed under: News, Inside Burma
Just as relief efforts were beginning to take hold in Laputta?although serious problems still exist?the Burmese authorities have forced tens of thousands of refugees to return to their home villages.
Based on numbers provided by local officials, as many as 30,000 refugees were sent back to the area of their homes during the past week. Of the estimated 40,000 refugees that lived in Laputta previously, only about 10,000 remain.
They are living in better established camps on the outskirts of the city, where they receive shelter, sufficient drinking water, food and other relief supplies on a daily basis.
Reports also indicate that drinking water, food and other relief material are beginning to reach some refugees who have been sent back to their villages.
Many refugees are now returning to Laputta to pick up food and other relief aid from international agencies located there. Many refugees also are receiving diesel fuel to power vehicles or boats. However, many refugees lack transportation to return for relief supplies.
Serious logistical problems remain in terms of distribution drinking water, food and survival material to refugees in more rural areas. Local doctors report many people are suffering from diseases such as diarrhea and malaria, and many others have psychological problems.
Medical doctors in Laputta said sending the refugees back to their home villages so quickly was a misguided policy, denying them badly needed relief supplies and medical services.
Local Laputta authorities ordered about 40,000 refugees living in 49 temporary shelters, including camps at Thakya Mara Zein Pagoda, No 1 and No 2 State High Schools, and other temporary shelter sites, to move to shelter camps on the outskirts of town, called Three-mile camp on Laputta-Myaung Mya Road, locally known as the golf course; Five-mile camp and the Yantana Dipa Sport Ground camp.
During the past week, Laputta, authorities transported tens of thousands of refugees back to their home villages, most of which are destroyed or badly damaged. The refugees were transported on a daily basis by private companies that have been awarded reconstruction contracts. The companies include Ayer Shwe Wah, Max Myanmar, War War Win and Zay Kabar companies.
?Until May 18, there were about 40,000 refugees in total in camps in Laputta. Starting on May 20, they were sent to camps situated out of town and since then most refugees have been returned to their home areas,? said an officer of the Laputta Township PDC, who asked that his name not be disclosed.
?There are now about 650 families from 22 cyclone-affected villages living at the Yadanar Dipa Sport Ground,? he said. ?The camp population is 2,609. The camp population at Three-mile and Five-mile camps now totals about 10,000. The figures are not constant, and the refugees are being sent back daily.?
Refugees in the camps on the outskirts of Laputta are provided with tents and other shelter material donated by the governments of Britain, Japan and international aid agencies. They have access to safe drinking water from distilling machines. Food is distributed by the UN World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF, and nongovernmental organizations, including the Adventist Development and Relief Agency Myanmar [Burma] (Adra-Myanmar) and other organizations.
?For rice, we receive a sack of rice for four families for three days, which is from the WFP,? said a refugee at Three-mile Camp. ?The rice is good to eat. The government also provides some rice. One person receives two tins (measured in a condensed milk tin) of rice for three days. We also receive cooking oil, salt and beans from other organizations. For drinking water and water for other use, we can collect it from the distilling machines set up at the front of the camp.?
Camp refugees now have regular access to health care at medical clinics operated by Holland-MSF, Marlin, Malteser International, UN agencies, the Myanmar Medical Association and the Burmese Ministry of Health. Diarrhea and other diseases are minimal in the camps, sources said.
However, many refugees already sent back to their villages are living under very different and difficult conditions.
?They don?t get proper assistance for food, drinking water and shelter and no health care is available to them,? said a doctor with an international health agency in Laputta.
?Many of them are suffering from diseases such as diarrheas, malaria, typhoid, hepatitis, plus psychological distress and depression.?
?When I went out to villages, I found some cases of diarrhea and typhoid. I see six or seven patients out of maybe 60 villagers. Some suffer from hepatitis, jaundice, pneumonia and malaria. Most of these diseases are caused by lack of safe water.?
Many refugees are suffering from depression, he said, and mental health specialists have yet to arrive in Laputta.
He criticized the forced return of refugees to their villages.
?It is certain these refugees will contract some diseases by sending them back without proper preparation,? he said. ?It?s also impossible for health services to access all these villages. What we can try to do is just contain diseases to prevent an epidemic.?
When the refugees were returned to their villages, the authorities provided them with a sack of rice, a tin of cooking oil and 20,000 kyats ($16).
A family of refugees at the jetty in Laputta who were on their way back to Gway Chaung village in the Yway village tract said they were required to sign a consent form saying they were voluntarily repatriated.
?They asked us repeatedly to go back,? said the man. ?They told us repeatedly to work our way out of a beggar-like life by relying on donations and food from others.?
A refugee living at the Yadanar Dipa Sport Ground said they were told that if they returned home they would not be accepted back in a shelter camp. He said he was returning to his village, Thin Gan Gyi.
A 60-year-old man at Three-mile Camp said he wanted to return home, but he worried about how he would eat. He had no other option if the authorities forcibly evicted him, he said.
A UNICEF officer in Laputta said repatriated refugees face renewed problems of safe drinking water and adequate food and other supplies. They are told to return to contact UN organizations and other relief agencies for assistance, he said.
?We are receiving representatives from villages,? he said. ?They tell us their needs and problems such as lack of drinking water, lack of rice, and ask us to provide pumps to take the salt water from the drinking ponds. They need to make the ponds ready to receive fresh rain water.
A WFP supervisor said, ?We are now getting more than 20 representatives a day from various villages. They get some drinking water, rice sacks and diesel for boats, as much as they can carry when they go back. Some villagers are coming to us almost daily.?
Staff with the UN and international organizations worry that only a limited number of returned refugees are making contact with relief agencies, since many don?t have adequate transportation. Likewise, relief organizations don?t have adequate transportation to reach the villagers.
Compounding the problem is the monsoon season, which begins this month.
Sources note that villagers reach out to UN agencies and international organizations, and they hardly share their needs or complaints with local Burmese authorities.
For example, a representative from the Pyin Salu Sub-township was in Laputta specifically to ask for a water-pump from the Adra-Myanmar [Burma] agency to reconstruct a water reservoir pond for drinking water. His village received just enough drinking water and people relied on seawater for cooking and other purposes.
A village representative from Hlwa Sar village who was receiving relief supplies from the WFP in Laputta on May 31, told The Irrawaddy, ?Almost all of the storm survivors believe in the UN and other international agencies. They don?t go to our authorities. The main reason is we don?t trust them.? http://www.burmanet.org/news/2008/06...ung-thet-wine/

[Commonground]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

Myanmar: Disease in the stricken delta
Thursday, 5 June 2008
By John Sparrow in Yangon

Nowhere is safe in the stricken expanses of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady delta. The rainy season brought by the southwest monsoon will worsen the plight of Cyclone Nargis survivors. Illness is on the rise and more preventive health measures are needed to avert another disaster. The Red Cross Red Crescent continues to increase its efforts.

Kyaw Kyaw, 30, knows one thing. Nowhere is safe in the cyclone-stricken expanses of the Irrawaddy delta.

Before Cyclone Nargis overwhelmed his home village in Bogale, he and other Myanmar Red Cross volunteers had raised the alarm and evacuated people whose homes were around the river.

'We'd been warned a huge wave was coming,' he said, 'as well as the storm.'

So in the highest part of their community they found a large building and turned it into a shelter. People streamed in and stayed dry, until winds - which may have peaked at 200 kilometres an hour - started to tear the place down.

Those inside the shelter fled again, with bricks falling down around them. That no one died, Kyaw Kyaw says, was a miracle and, as more hazards loom on his horizon, he will not rely on another one. He is among hundreds of volunteers now deployed in a scale-up of Red Cross Red Crescent preventive health efforts.

The rainy season driven by the southwest monsoon has begun to intensify, and people like Kyaw Kyaw are reporting increasing illness. Diarrhoeal disease, malaria, dengue, respiratory infections and even haemorrhagic fever continue to concern the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). While these diseases are endemic in Myanmar ? and the authorities consider the reports to be normal ? the threat they pose in post-cyclone conditions remains considerable.

'It would be dangerous to conclude that since no epidemic disease has occurred more than four weeks after the disaster the danger is subsiding. All our experience tells us it will not,' said Mallu Oraby, a Finnish delegate with the Red Cross Red Crescent health team in the country.

'The hazards remain and, in the pouring rain that will be with us for months, every effort must be made to prevent a second wave of disaster.'

The danger facing Myanmar's stricken area is the combination of disaster, disease and malnutrition, one Oraby knows well from other catastrophes. Like communicable disease, malnutrition was present before the cyclone. UNICEF estimated in 2003 that 40 per cent of Myanmar children under five were chronically malnourished. Ten per cent were acutely malnourished.

What malnutrition does is weaken natural immunity and nurture more frequent and severe infection. 'The time to get excited is now,' said Oraby, 'not when we have an epidemic. Then it's too late. People will die of things we can prevent.'

Kyaw Kyaw was in Yangon this week along with a legion of volunteers from cyclone-affected areas. Already trained in first aid and community health, they are now undergoing a one-day booster training in hygiene promotion and disease prevention.

They will form the backbone of a network of 200 first aid and health education posts being set up across the Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions in consultation with the health authorities. Some will operate from tents ? the IFRC has 60 suitable tents already available ? others, where possible, from health centres and existing buildings.

The posts are part of the six-month emergency phase of a three-year IFRC programme to strengthen the Myanmar Red Cross' emergency health capacity.

As well as first aid, the posts will provide the community with health advice and education, psychosocial support and serve as a distribution points for vital hygiene goods.

'After all that has happened, we must not allow disease to follow,' Kyaw Kyaw said.

Like his fellow volunteers, the man from Bogale will have one more role, as a crucial community health monitor. The posts will be well placed to spot emerging threats to public health.

http://reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EDIS-7FBJW3?OpenDocument

[Giuseppe]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

Cyclone raises tuberculosis risks in Myanmar: WHO
Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:48pm EDT
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA (Reuters) -

The cyclone that devastated Myanmar last month forced many tuberculosis sufferers to stop their treatment, triggering fears of drug-resistant strains spreading, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Myanmar had 83,000 cases of the highly contagious disease in 2006 causing 6,000 deaths, according to the WHO's most recent figures for the diplomatically isolated country whose army rulers were initially reluctant to let in foreign aid workers after Cyclone Nargis hit on May 2.

The storm killed up to 134,000 people, left 2.4 million destitute, and destroyed many of the health centers which handed out antibiotics.

WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said experts from the United Nations agency would travel to cyclone-affected areas this week to track down tuberculosis patients who lost access to their drugs since the May 2 storm.

"They will go to the hospitals and health centers, look at the records, look how many people were on treatment, and then try to trace them in villages and camps," Chaib said, calling the hiatus resulting from the storm "a serious issue".

"Tuberculosis is a life-threatening disease. Interrupting a course of six-month treatment can have an effect on creating resistance to tuberculosis drugs," she said.

Any pause in a course of antibiotics can give the bacterium causing tuberculosis a chance to mutate and build up immunity to standard medicines.

Drug-resistant strains can require patients to take an expensive and arduous course of pills and injections, and some types are virtually untreatable.

Even before the cyclone, the weak health system and pervasiveness of fake drugs in Myanmar were seen as potential triggers for drug-resistant tuberculosis.

While no cases of "extensively drug-resistant" or "XDR" tuberculosis have been confirmed by the WHO in Myanmar, aid workers from Medicins Sans Frontieres last year reported cases among migrants from Myanmar in neighboring Thailand, raising concerns that it may already exist in the secretive state.

Chaib said authorities in Myanmar had worked hard with the WHO in recent years to fight the respiratory disease, which spreads through the air and kills about 1.5 million people worldwide every year.

In addition to tracking patients and helping them resume treatment, WHO staff deployed to Myanmar's cyclone-affected region will also seek to bolster general health services for those displaced by the storm.

The WHO is appealing for clean water and sanitation supplies to help reduce the risks of water-borne diseases among cyclone survivors.

With the monsoon season coming, the U.N. agency said it was also critical for Myanmar to take steps to prevent malaria and other diseases spread by mosquitoes.

(Editing by Caroline Drees)

-

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1070578920080610?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&sp=true

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[Shiloh]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

Source: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/...5?OpenDocument

Source: World Health Organization (WHO)

Date: 10 Jun 2008
Myanmar: Health cluster situation report no. 24, 10 Jun 2008


HIGHLIGHTS

The first Village Tract assessment (VTA) team leaves for villages in Yangon division today, with another team heading for the Ayeyarwady Delta tomorrow. The assessment, the first part of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA), will cover nine sectors.

The first report based on the Health Cluster Early Warning, Alert and Response system (EWARS) for disease surveillance reveals 685 cases of acute respiratory infection, 117 cases of bloody diarrhea and three cases of dengue fever.

WHO jointly with the Ministry of Health and other key stakeholders, have developed a Plan of Action for dengue prevention and control in cyclone affected areas.

HEALTH ASSESSMENT AND SITUATION UPDATE

The first Village Tract assessment (VTA) team leaves for villages in Yangon division today, with another team heading for the Ayeyarwady Delta tomorrow. The assessment, the first part of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA), will cover nine sectors.

VTA teams have requested support from organizations on the ground such as guiding teams, providing local information and medical support if required. The teams would be collecting GCS coordinates of the villages they visit.

The VTA method of data collection involves:

- Daily data entry at field level by the designated data analyst in each cluster

- This information will then be fed back to a central team collecting sector-wise analyses from each of the cluster teams.

The Myanmar Red Cross reports that it has reached 228 000 beneficiaries as of 4 June. Of these, 36 605 are located in Yangon Division, 190 000 in Ayeyarwady Division and 1590 in Mon State.

The Ministry of Health has given written instructions on 7 June to vaccinate all children from 9 months to 10 years for measles in all affected townships. Surveillance Officers confirmed that mobile teams are conducting vaccination activities (along with other interventions) in these villages.

Over 1900 MT of cargo, including 1334 MT of food, was dispatched between 20 May and 9 June.

Over 6 million liters of water are being disinfected every day, covering the needs of approximately two million people. Point-of-use water treatment is reported by the WASH Cluster to be good even in the remote communities.

Rainwater collection is increasingly being introduced, and represents the main source of freshwater in the worst-affected areas south of the Delta.

Pond rehabilitation activities are ongoing and will be prioritized particularly in the southern delta area.

HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Disease Surveillance

More than 60 percent of partners reported for the first Surveillance Bulletin based on the Early Warning, Alert and Response system (EWARS) for disease surveillance.

The surveillance report has revealed the following :

- Bloody diarrhea: 117 cases, from Bogale and Kungyangon Township in Ayeryarwady and Yangon Divisions respectively.

- Acute Respiratory Infection: 685 cases, in Bogale, Dedaye, Kyaiklat, Labutta, Mawlamyinegyum, Ngapudaw, Pyapon in Ayeryarwady Division, Dagon townships, Kungyangon, Thalyin and Twantay in Yangon Division. Thalyin township is the only one showing a real increase in the trend from week 22 to week 23.

- Dengue Hemorrhagic fever: Three cases, all more than five years old. One case is from Pyapon Township and two from Kungyangon.

- Others: Four cases of acute jaundice, all older than five years are reported from Ayeryarwady division. One case is from Mawlamyinegyun Township and three from Pyapon Township.

For Acute Respiratory Infections, the case definition needs to be verified; shelters, living conditions improved; standard protocols for case management used; and referral hospitals identified.

Laboratory confirmation is needed for the reported cases of bloody diarrhoea, dengue haemorrhagic fever and acute jaundice.

2. Health Action

WHO

Four additional experts have arrived to provide support to the WHO Country team. They include a water and sanitation expert, a vector control specialist, an epidemiologist and an administration and finance professional.

WHO jointly with the Department of Health and other key stakeholders, has developed a Plan of Action for dengue prevention and control in cyclone affected areas. While a high number of cases of dengue fever is normal for this region at this time of year, greater numbers are expected this year given the living conditions after the cyclone. The plan has been developed in anticipation of such a situation, and agencies interested in supporting dengue prevention and control have been requested to work within the context of this plan.

A joint team comprising of WHO and Ministry of Health officials visited Dagon S and Dagon N township hospitals and neighborhoods. The team reported the following:

- Few suspected cases of dengue fever were reported, which is normal during this season. Investigations are ongoing.

- Both hospitals and their respective township clinics are fully functional (roofs repaired/replaced).

- Fogging machines have been received in both hospitals.

- Household visits indicated very high levels of vector infestation, mostly in water storage containers, spirit house bowls and flower vases as well as in used tyres and abandoned household appliances.

- In Dagon S, field staff was observed applying bleaching powder to water.

- Increased nocturnal mosquito nuisance was reported in Dagon S

WHO and UNICEF have developed a joint proposal on recommendations for Measles control activities in the cyclone affected townships.

IOM

Between May and July, IOM plans to provide emergency medical services through mobile medical teams, medicines, medical equipment and supplies in Boggle, Malamnyine Kyune and Pyapon.

HelpAge International

HelpAge International (HAI) is working with local NGO YMCA to provide health services in Kyiaklat Township. Services will be extended to Mawlamyinegyun, Dedaye township from 10 June.

IFRC/Myanmar Red Cross

IFRC is recruiting 40 health/hygiene officers to work with the Myanmar Red Cross (MRCS) from mid- June onwards.

Community-based first aid refresher training for 216 MRCS volunteers from the Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions continues. The main focus of the training is safe water and sanitation, prevention of communicable diseases and psychosocial support.

3. Supplies

Ten water treatment units have been deployed in the Delta region. A total of 50 units are now in the country. Training of local staff on the use of the units is ongoing in Yangon.

4. Funds

The Health cluster is 77% funded in the Flash Appeal according to the OCHA Financial Tracking.

HEALTH COORDINATION

WHO has recruited three national consultants to be based in three sub- national locations to strengthen health coordination and WHO Myanmar Nargis relief activities. WHO is planning to open sub-national offices in selected locations to strengthen Health Cluster activities.

WHO provided up-to-date reports on who, what, when and where (WWW). The information has been sourced from cluster partners inputs over the last four weeks, and shows that

- Most townships have been covered for surveillance.

- There appear to be gaps in the medical coverage especially in some townships in Yangon.

WHO suggested that a working group on vector-born diseases be formed to discuss the action plan on dengue.

The technical working groups provided the following reports:

Early Recovery and Joint Action Plan:

- The ER working group will reconvene after the MoH has confirmed its participation.

- WHO suggested that the ER working group should be linked with the Joint Plan of Action working group.

- The JPA working group has received comments on the Joint Plan of Action and is taking these into account as they finalize the draft.

- UNICEF noted that they have sent an early recovery team to the field and have information on the infrastructure.

- WHO suggested that UNICEF become part of the JPA and ER working groups to share information and coordinate on the response.

Psychosocial Support

- Twenty-two agencies have requested to work on psychosocial support

- Terms of Reference have been issued and a matrix has been constructed for WWW.

NEXT STEPS

WHO in collaboration with Ministry of Health is planning more field visits to provide technical assistance on ground, to help monitor the health response activities, identify gaps and plan further interventions.

[Giuseppe]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

No outbreak of contagious, epidemic diseases in Myanmar storm-hit areas
2008-06-11 11:49:00
YANGON, June 11 (Xinhua) --

There has been no outbreak of contagious and epidemic diseases in Myanmar's storm-hit areas, said a report of the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar Wednesday.

According to the report, a total of 206,039 storm patients had received medical treatment during a month after the cyclone storm Nargis hit the country on May 2-3.

Besides, 2,586 medical staff from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Defense, and experts of non-governmental organizations, over 36,000 private medical practitioners, members of Myanmar Red Cross Society, Fire Services and others health relief teams, as well as 398 members of 13 foreign medics took part in the medical services in the aftermath of the disaster, the report said.

Moreover, four floating hospitals were also established for treatment of cyclone victims.

Cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states on May 2-3, killing 77,738 people, injuring 19,359 persons and leaving 55,917 others missing, according to the official death toll.


Editor: An Lu
-

http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-06/11/content_8346367.htm

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[Commonground]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

June 16, 2008
UN plans massive anti-dengue operation in cyclone-hit Myanmar

YANGON (Myanmar) - THE United Nations plans to launch a massive anti-dengue campaign this week in cyclone-hit areas of Myanmar where mosquitoes that carry the disease have become a major concern, an official said on Monday.
More than 1,700 volunteers will fan out across 22 priority areas in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, and the harder-hit Irrawaddy delta applying larvicide, or pesticide, to water containers and other areas where mosquitoes are likely to breed, said Leonard Ortega, the World Health Organisation's dengue expert in Yangon.

WHO and Unicef are handling the operation with local aid groups.

'It is a major concern not just because this is dengue season, but because of the displacement of the population, the destruction of houses and because people are more exposed to mosquitoes,' Mr Ortega said.

The UN estimates a total of 2.4 million people were affected by the May 2-3 cyclone and warns that more than 1 million of those still need help, mostly in hard-to-reach spots in the Irrawaddy delta. The cyclone killed more than 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing.

'We fear that there will be more cases this year. That's why we're embarking on a massive larviciding to contain mosquitoes and reduce transmission.'

So far, the number of cases is roughly in line with previous years, Mr Ortega said.

There were 781 cases of dengue fever reported in Yangon as of June 10, and 481 cases reported in the delta through the end of May.

The first phase of the operation requires 44 tonnes of larvicide to be applied over roughly a 10-day period, Ortega said, adding that a second phase of 44 tonnes might be carried out six weeks later in the same areas.

So far, only 1.5 tonnes of larvicide have arrived in Myanmar with another 5 tonnes waiting to be delivered from neighboring Bangkok, Thailand, he said. The remainder is in the process of being bought.

The WHO hopes to start the operation on Tuesday in Yangon and continue later in the week in the delta if supplies of larvicide are available, Mr Ortega said.

State-run media and volunteers from the Myanmar Red Cross and other organizations will be informing the public about the campaign and advising home owners to dispose of old tires, bottles, tin cans and other objects where water can collect and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

The WHO has also provided the government with 200 fogging machines to spray pesticide in areas where dengue cases have been reported, Ortega said, noting that fogging only kills adult mosquitoes but does not destroy the larva. -- AP

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/S-E%2BAsia/STIStory_248475.html

[Shiloh]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article2.php?art_id=12775

Disease on the Rise in Laputta
By SAW YAN NAING Monday, June 16, 2008

Due to the spread of diarrhea and other infectious diseases, dozens of cyclone victims in Laputta Township are seeking medical treatment in local clinics every day, according to doctors active in the area.

Aye Kyu, a Burmese doctor working in Laputta, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that about 100 patients?most suffering from diarrhea?gather at nine local clinics to receive medicine or medical treatment every day.

?About 20 patients came to my clinic this morning. Six of them were suffering from diarrhea. It?s the same at every clinic around here. Diarrhea is the single biggest problem,? said Aye Kyu.

A local resident said that diarrhea was spreading not only in the town of Laputta, but also in the surrounding area. He added that although local nongovernmental organizations are providing medicine, supplies are not sufficient to meet the needs of patients.

Aye Kyu said that the disease is especially prevalent in overcrowded temporary refugee camps. Rats and flies, which help to spread disease, are proliferating because of the abundance of human and animal corpses that still litter the countryside, sometimes in close proximity to the camps.

Aye Kyu added that he is also suffering from diarrhea, which he said he suspected he got from an infected patient.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization and its Health Cluster partners released the first disease surveillance bulletin in cyclone-affected areas on Monday, saying that since the beginning of June, 685 cases of acute respiratory infections, 659 cases of diarrhea (including 117 cases of bloody diarrhea), 337 cases of trauma or injuries, ten cases of measles, five cases of malaria and three cases of suspected dengue hemorrhagic fever have been reported.

Despite the ongoing health problems in cyclone-affected areas, two Thai medical teams returned to Thailand from the Irrawaddy delta on Sunday, according to a report by the Thai News Agency.

The report added that Burmese authorities informed Thai health officials that further assistance would not be required, as the Burmese government has the situation under control.

Disease is not the only problem facing cyclone victims who are taking shelter in temporary refugee camps in Laputta. Sources in the area say that many are also being forced to provide labor with little or no payment.

[Shiloh]

Re: _|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...section=justin

WHO says Burma health system 'back on its feet'

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that the health system in cyclone-battered Burma is "back on its feet," but warned that disease risks remained.

"I think we were able to provide a response that helped the health system back on its feet," WHO health cluster coordinator Rudi Coninx said.

Mr Coninx has just spent several weeks in the country.

The WHO said it had played a key role in a comprehensive impact assessment conducted by the UN, the regional ASEAN grouping and Burma's military government.

The military junta faced heavy criticism for several weeks after Cyclone Nargis first struck in early May for not allowing international aid workers full access to the country.

But the situation has now improved and "we have our teams with international staff going now everywhere," Mr Coninx told journalists.

The WHO said that in the first week of June, it recorded some 685 cases of acute respiratory infections, 117 cases of bloody diarrhoea, 542 cases of acute diarrhoea, 337 cases of trauma or injuries, five cases of malaria and three of suspected dengue fever.

Dengue fever remains a particular concern and the WHO has drawn up a $816,000 action plan for the next four months targeting around 8.5 million people.

Dengue is endemic in Burma, and around half of all cases occur in the Rangoon and Irrawaddy regions.

"We identified a considerable increase in the risk of transmission of dengue due to population movement and displacement in urban areas" following the cyclone, WHO expert Michael Nathan said.

The WHO's action plan will seek to both cut the number of mosquitoes - who transmit the disease - through environmental management and insecticide, and strengthen disease surveillance and case management.

More than 133,000 people were killed or are missing after the cyclone struck six weeks ago. Many were washed out to sea as a tidal surge wiped out their villages.

- AFP