_|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

Bois_de_Durou · May 11, 2008

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

ECMWF are forecasting another cyclone for that area in a weeks time. They have been very accurate with their previous forecasts but let's hope that this one will fail to develop.

Snowy Owl · May 11, 2008

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

French humanitarian group Medecins du Monde receives permission to distribute aid in Myanmar

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/11/europe/EU-GEN-France-Myanmar-Aid.php

PARIS: Myanmar's military government has granted a French humanitarian organization permission to oversee the distribution of an aid shipment, the group said Sunday.

Paris-based Medecins du Monde said in a statement that two people had arrived in Yangon, the capital, to prepare for the arrival of a cargo plane carrying 22 tons of relief goods.

The shipment includes first aid kits for 20,000 people, anti-malarial drugs and other medicines as well as water purifying agents.

The plane, which lifted off from the southwestern city of Bordeaux on Saturday, was to land on Monday with a third aid worker from the organization.

The group said a second cargo plane was expected to leave for Myanmar on Monday.

After the devastating May 3 cyclone, Myanmar's government had said it would accept international aid, but not the foreign staff to deliver it.

Top French officials have joined other countries in criticizing that policy.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Sunday criticized a referendum on a new constitution ? held in Myanmar on Saturday, a week after Cyclone Nargis struck.

He said Myanmar's military rulers have not "taken into account the circumstances of exceptional suffering and massive unhappiness that is affecting millions of people in their country and have maintained this farcical referendum."

Kouchner said a French navy vessel carrying 1,500 tons of aid is expected to arrive in Myanmar "around Thursday" and that he hopes "volunteers" will be allowed to oversee the material's distribution.

Giuseppe · May 12, 2008

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

[EXCERPTS FROM WHO Document: Communicable disease risk assessment and interventions - Cyclone Nargis: Myanmar]
May 2008
(...)

ARI.
Acute respiratory infection includes any infection of the upper or lower respiratory system.

A major concern in Myanmar is acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI) in children under five (pneumonia, bronchiolitis and bronchitis).

ALRI kills more children globally than any other disease.

The under-five mortality rate for Myanmar in 2004 was 106 / 1 000 live births (UNICEF 2006) of which 90% of deaths were caused by pneumonia.

Low birth weight, malnourished and non-breastfed children and those living in overcrowded conditions are at higher risk of acquiring pneumonia.

These children are also at a higher risk of death from pneumonia.

Prevention is key, including early recognition and detection, immunization (measles, HIB and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines), adequate nutrition and exclusive breastfeeding.

Infants of less than six months of age, who are not breastfed, have a risk of dying from pneumonia five times greater than infants who are exclusively breastfed for the first six months.

Early detection and case management of pneumonia and other common illnesses, guided by the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), will prevent unnecessary morbidity and mortality in children
under five years of age.

IMCI is being implemented in 112 of the 325 townships in Myanmar.

The national IMCI guidelines could be used by trained health workers during and after the emergency and afterwards.

Pneumonia is a common opportunistic infection among HIV positive children worldwide.

The pathogen responsible is found to be fungal ( P.jiroveci) which is commonly referred to as PCP.

PCP causes a significant number of deaths among HIV-positive infants under the age of one.

WHO and UNICEF recommend cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for all HIV-positive children, as well as for infants born to HIV-positive mothers, to prevent the development of pneumonia. (See section 4 Child health in
emergencies)

(...)
Avian influenza (A/H5N1).
One human case of influenza A/H5N1 was reported in Shan State in
December 2007, following an outbreak in poultry.

There have been no highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in poultry recorded since December 2007, however virus circulation cannot be excluded.

(...)
Corpses.
It is important to convey to all parties that corpses do not represent a public health threat. (For relevant publications, see section 4 Management of dead bodies)
--
http://www.who.int/diseasecontrol_emergencies/MyanmarCycloneNargis090508.pdf
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Snowy Owl · May 12, 2008

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

Myanmar cyclone: MSF teams intensify emergency response, a first relief plane is due to land in Yangon

http://www.msf.org/

MSF providing medical care and food, and improves access to clean water in some of the worst affected areas of Myanmar's Ayeyarwaddy Delta... read more MSF PRESS RELEASE at
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational...mponent=toolkit.pressrelease&method=full_html

"Additional teams and key materials should arrive soon to help us scale up our relief effort," said Hugues Robert, Head of MSF Emergency Operations in Geneva. "We've had very constructive discussions with the authorities and the fact that they have given a green light for the first cargo plane to land on Saturday is a positive sign.
Find out more...

MSF teams intensify activities in the areas most affected by Cyclone Nargis
09/05/2008
Urgent needs in Myanmar press MSF aid efforts - destruction reaches 80%
08/05/2008
Myanmar Cyclone: MSF teams bring immediate assistance, while additional staff and relief materials are ready to be sent
07/05/2008
MSF first response in Myanmar to Nargis cyclone
06/05/2008
Myanmar - 2008 country overview
08/05/2008

"We've seen the scale of the destruction and the suffering is huge," said Hugues Robert, Head of MSF Emergency Operations in Geneva. "But we will not be able to address these urgent needs without the necessary additional supplies and the arrival of more experienced emergency staff, particularly experts in water and sanitation."
Geneva/Yangon - As the first MSF relief plane receives permission to land in Yangon tomorrow, Saturday, May 10, MSF has already intensified its emergency programme. As MSF scales up, there is a need for more technical experts and further supplies in the coming days.

MSF has staff in various countries awaiting visas, and several other planes of cargo are ready to leave in the coming days, though these still need permission from the authorities to land.

The first cargo plane, containing 40 metric tons of water and sanitation equipment, relief stocks, medicines and therapeutic food, will leave Europe this afternoon. Landing clearance has been given and our teams will be there to receive the material and immediately distribute it to some of the most affected.

MSF teams already based in Myanmar, responded immediately after the cyclone hit, providing food, basic relief items, medical care and improved access to clean water.

MSF teams are using two boats to reach the most affected areas in the south-west tip of the Ayeyarwaddy Delta, mainly in Haigyi, Tongwa, and Pyinsalu, where 95 percent of homes are destroyed. So far, nine truckloads of supplies have gone to Pathein, including 14,000 pieces of plastic sheeting, 62 tons of rice, as well as oil, fish and therapeutic food.

The teams have done several hundred consultations since Wednesday, about half of which were for cyclone-related injuries, while the remainder were for diarrhoea, fever and respiratory infections.

Other MSF teams are carrying out assessments by truck between Yangon and Labuta, including heavily hit Bogaley. In every affected location the teams simultaneously assess the needs, distribute food and provide medical care to the people. Following the assessments, trucks with additional relief items and food will follow shortly.

The food being distributed comes from existing MSF stocks and from the World Food Programme. However more food and safe drinking water are urgently needed as our teams await the arrival of Saturday's plane.

"Additional teams and key materials should arrive soon to help us scale up our relief effort," said Hugues Robert, Head of MSF Emergency Operations in Geneva. "We've had very constructive discussions with the authorities and the fact that they have given a green light for the first cargo plane to land on Saturday is a positive sign. We've seen the scale of the destruction and the suffering is huge. But we will not be able to address these urgent needs without the necessary additional supplies and the arrival of more experienced emergency staff, particularly experts in water and sanitation."

As MSF scales up and begins to see the extent and severity of the damage, the number of casualties, and people vulnerable to exposure, hunger and disease, it is clear that a much greater response is urgently needed.

In total, MSF has 43 international staff and over 1,200 national staff currently working in Myanmar.

mixin · May 12, 2008

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

http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000838/index.html

Myanmar?s food bowl devastated

US$10 million urgently needed to assist poor farming and fishing communities
Rome, 9 May 2008 - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today called for US$10 million to assist poor farming and fishing communities in Myanmar devastated by cyclone Nargis.

The five worst-affected areas - Ayeyarwady, Yangon and Bago Divisions, and Mon and Kayin States - are considered Myanmar?s food bowl, producing much of the country?s staple food of rice and fish, and the overall food security situation in Myanmar is seriously threatened, FAO said.

FAO?s call for funding is part of a UN flash appeal for the country that covers emergency relief and rehabilitation activities in the agricultural, fisheries and livestock sectors over the next weeks and months.

While the second crop of the 2007 rice season was fully harvested before the cyclone hit and no major crop losses are expected in the region, rice already harvested for household consumption was most likely damaged by the storm surge, adding to the precarious food security situation of poor coastal families, FAO said.

Inland and coastal fisheries, poultry and livestock were also either damaged or lost, according to FAO. An estimated 2 million households were affected, meaning that a significant number of farming and fishing families are in need of urgent assistance.

?The hardest hit villages lost all their farming assets, as well as the food stored for the rest of the year,? said Anne M. Bauer, Director, FAO Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division. ?Add to this the burden of rebuilding their destroyed houses and it is safe to say that these poor farmers will not have sufficient resources to purchase seed, fertilizers and other inputs, protect surviving livestock and replace lost ones, and pay for on-farm labour during critical phases of the farm cycle. Funds are urgently needed to help them resume food production, restore food availability and reduce the need for high cost and unsustainable relief.?

Time running out

According to FAO?s Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, He Changchui, time is running out to prepare for the main rice planting season starting in early June with the onset of the monsoon rains.

?It is crucially important to mobilize the right type and volume of rice seeds, fertilizer and other production inputs quickly, in order to resume agricultural productivity in a timely manner,? he said.

In Myanmar, people consume on average 20 kg of rice per month compared with 16 kg in Viet Nam, 10 kg in Thailand and 7 kg in Asia as a whole.

As much fertile agricultural land was inundated with sea water, another FAO priority will be to analyse soil salinity and review damage to irrigation and capacity for draining agricultural lands to make them suitable again for farming.

Relief and rehabilitation activities

FAO?s proposed activities will help around 100 000 of the worst-affected farming and fishing households, particularly women and children, to rebuild their livelihoods through the provision of agricultural inputs such as rice and vegetable seed, fertilizer, fruit tree seedlings, farming tools, and technical know-how.

The cyclone-hit areas are key livestock producing regions - comprising roughly 50 percent of national poultry production and 40 percent of pig production. To rehabilitate the damaged livestock sector, FAO plans to distribute draught cattle, goats, pigs and poultry to replace lost, sold or consumed livestock and supply veterinary medicines and vaccines to improve animal health and protect surviving livestock.

FAO also plans to help the worst-affected fishing families resume fish production through the provision of fishing gear, nets, fish processing equipment, fish seed and fertilizers, and technical support.

Needs assessment under way

FAO is fielding its first damage and needs assessment mission this week. Two senior FAO staff, including a Regional Emergency and Rehabilitation Coordinator, are joining FAO?s resident team in Myanmar to lead the assessment mission.

Cyclone Nargis has affected the same areas in Ayeyarwady Division that were hit by the 2004 tsunami, but this time around, the impact is believed to be far more severe.

The area struck by the cyclone has some major fishing ports and landing sites. Early satellite pictures show significant damage to fishing vessels in harbours, and damage to infrastructure such as landing facilities and fish storage and preservation facilities is likely, FAO said.

The fate of the vessels at sea when the cyclone hit is currently unknown. Myanmar does not have an early warning system for cyclones. Although fishermen are generally aware of weather conditions and do not go out to sea if storms are expected, fishers on small vessels may not have received warning in time.

The coastline of Myanmar is over 3 000 km long and Ayeyarwady Division occupies the delta region of the Ayeyarwady River. The area has numerous rivers and channels and much of the transport in and around the area is by boat.

As transport and communications are extremely difficult, FAO expects to have a preliminary assessment within ten days, and a fuller picture of the situation within one month.

Short- and medium-term recovery plans will be prepared by FAO, and assistance will be provided to the Government to implement these emergency and rehabilitation plans. These plans will also take account of the need to address the food crisis in line with FAO?s Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP).

Giuseppe · May 12, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] HIGHLIGHTS HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATE

? The flow of supplies to Yangon is improving. Another WFP plane arrived today in Yangon. Its cargo included a Diarrhoeal Disease Kit for WHO. NGOs have also been receiving supplies through various channels.
? Initial reports of the sinking of a ship off the coast of the Irrawady delta have proven to be incorrect. the ship suffered a mechanical failure and is being towed to port.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE
1. Supplies
? In consultation with the Ministry of Health, WHO has deployed 11 Regional Surveillance Officers (RSO) to affected townships in Ayeyarwady district. Another five RSOs have been assigned to Yangon district for the next two weeks to support the Ministry of Health in assessing the situation and delivering health relief items.
? WHO has delivered another two Inter-Agency Emergency Health Kits to Bogale and Labutta, and will send four more kits today to the Pyapon, Ngaputaw, Myaungmya, and Ma U Bin townships. This will provide enough immediate medical supplies for most of the worst-hit townships in the Ayeryarwady district.
? The Ministry of Health has given WHO a list of the essential supplies and medicines that need to be replenished urgently. WHO will work with the Ministry to establish a revolving stock of drugs to ensure the continuing availability of essential medicines and supplies.
? UNFPA has received its first shipment of Reproductive Health (RH) kits and is expecting a second kit later this week. One RH kit provides enough reproductive health drugs and supplies for between 200,000 and 300,000 people. UNFPA will deliver the first RH kit to Thongwa township, which is one WHO South East Asia Regional Office Website:www.searo.who.int Email: searnargis@searo.who.int

* Health Cluster
1. Aid supplies are reaching Myanmar more easily. Many NGOs including Medecins du Monde have received supplies in the last 48 hours. WHO has received and distributed additional Inter-Agency Emergency Health Kits and Diarrhoeal Disease Kits.
2. The UN has launched its global Flash Appeal. The Appeal includes health cluster projects for a total of US$15 million. The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has earmarked US$4 million for health cluster operations. WHO and its partners have finalized the grant proposal to be submitted to the CERF today.
3. Emergency health efforts are continuing in the affected areas. Sixteen WHO Regional Surveillance Officers (RSOs) have been deployed to the affected areas to support the Ministry of Health in assessing needs and implementing relief activities. UNFPA and other partners are delivering Reproductive Health kits and Clean Delivery kits to pregnant women of the areas worst hit by the cyclone. UNFPA and its partners are also providing Clean Delivery Kits (CDKs) to pregnant women.
? UNFPA has translated the key points of the "Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP)" into Burmese. The MISP will be distributed to health personnel, rescue workers and local authorities in the affected areas.
? WHO will mobilize 2 000 vials of anti-snake venom for Russel viper bites. This amount is enough to treat around 250 patients. Although there have been no reports of snake bites, there is a high likely of increase in cases in the days ahead.

2. Fund
? WHO has released another US$175,000 from its South East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) for Myanmar.
? WHO has received donations from the United Kingdom and Italy.
? UNFPA has withdrawn US$ 130,000 from its Field Emergency Support Fund. It will use this money to buy 17,857 reproductive health kits and clean delivery kits locally.
? The Health Cluster has finalized its grant proposal for the CERF (to be submitted today).
? Following the global launch of the Flash Appeal in New York on 9 May, the UN organized a regional launch in Bangkok on 12 May. The Appeal comprises projects for a total of US$ 187 million, of which US$15 million is for Health

* Cluster activities.
3. Surveillance
? All health partners are using the WHO surveillance form to collect and report information on the number and type of diseases and injuries in the affected areas. The information is collected and analysed daily by the WHO office in Yangon.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? Health partners in Myanmar and Bangkok are developing a matrix to show who is doing what, and where (the ?WWW matrix?).
? The Health Cluster is working closely with the Nutrition, Water and Sanitation, Shelter and Logistics Clusters in Myanmar and Bangkok on cross-cutting health issues.
? UNFPA is continuing to work closely with other agencies and rescue groups. UNFPA is involved in the Health, Logistics, and Protection of Women and Children Clusters.
? The UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (DERC) met with Cluster leads in Bangkok on 12 May. He emphasized the need for close collaboration among all partners in handling the crisis.
? An Inter-Agency Standing Committee meeting of regional cluster leads was held in Bangkok on 12 May. According to the Nutrition cluster, there is a strong likelihood the number of cases of malnutrition will increase, as the areas hit by the cyclone produced around 50% of the country?s food supplies.
? Twenty-eight participants from 16 agencies attended a health cluster meeting in Bangkok on 12 May. Participants agreed on the need to map partners and activities at all levels. Regional health partners will establish a communications network to share information.
? A large number of NGOs including Merlin, the National Red Cross, Malteser and Medecins du Monde are now working in the affected areas. Close links between these agencies and the Health Cluster will be essential in order to avoid duplication and overlap.

? NEXT STEPS & MEETING
1. Follow Up Action Points
? Purchase and deliver additional supplies by the fastest possible means.
? Strengthen health coordination.
? Continue strengthening the surveillance system in the affected areas.
? Alert stakeholders and appeal to the donor community for strong support for response operations.
2. Upcoming Meetings for 13 May 2008
*Meeting Location
*Daily Health Cluster Meeting Myanmar
*Logistics Cluster Meeting Bangkok
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Giuseppe · May 13, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] HIGHLIGHTS - HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATE

? The latest statistics from the Myanmar state media indicates that 31 938 people have died in the aftermath of the cyclone ?Nargis?, another 1403 injured and 29 770 are missing.
? An increasing number of people with diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections (ARIs), and trauma are being provided treatment. NGOs working in the affected areas have reported that they are organizing mobile clinics and providing medical care to people living in temporary shelters.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE
1. Supplies
? Aid efforts are beginning to reach the affected population. The initial supply gap including emergency health drugs, supplies and kits is gradually being met by the health agencies.
? Fogging machines and bleaching powder have been procured and are being dispatched to the affected areas to prevent possible outbreaks of malaria and other water and vector borne diseases.
? WHO has provided five tents to Myanmar, to be used as temporary health posts for delivery of essential primary health care to the affected population.

2. Funds
? Funding support provided by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Italian government has enabled WHO to intensify health sector interventions in the affected areas.
? The joint health cluster proposal for the Central Emergency Response Fund was submitted on 12 May 2008, in Myanmar amounting to four million USD for health, out of which US250 000 has been earmarked for health sector activities by various health partners under the cluster leadership of WHO.

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

? Health Cluster, Situation Report No. 7. 13 May 2008
1. According to the casualty figures provided by the Myanmar state media as of 13 May 2008, 31 938 people are reported to have died, 1403 injured and 29 770 are missing due to Cyclone Nargis.
2. Health sector relief activities have been further intensified in the affected areas. Ten Regional surveillance officers (RSOs) from WHO have been placed at the township level to support health officials in the affected areas as part of the efforts to strengthen disease surveillance activities.
3. A number of people in the cyclone affected areas are in need of treatment for diarrhoeal diseases, acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and post-cyclone injuries. NGOs working in those areas have reported setting up mobile clinics and treating people living in temporary shelters.
? Ten Regional surveillance officers (RSOs) from WHO has been placed at the township level to support the local health officials to strengthen the disease surveillance activities. The health partners (NGOs) have agreed to feed the surveillance information directly to the RSOs. This would ensure regular flow of information to the health cluster.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? More than 20 NGOs are currently participating in the health cluster in Myanmar. The health cluster approach facilitates information sharing among all partners on the ground, identify gaps and initiate immediate remedial measures collectively.
? Accessibility to a number of peripherally located villages is still difficult, however the efforts of the health agencies have been to reach them at the earliest.
? Health cluster coordination meetings are also now being held at the township level, in both Labutta and Bogale. The longstanding presence of international NGOs, such as Merlin, in the affected areas allows close collaboration between the health cluster and local and national health officials.

? NEXT STEPS
1. Follow Up Action Points
? Purchase and deliver additional supplies by the fastest possible means.
? Strengthen health coordination more so at the township level.
? Continue strengthening the surveillance system in the affected areas.
? Alert stakeholders and appeal to the donor community for strong support for response operations
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Giuseppe · May 14, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 8
14 May 2008
[WHO South East Asia Regional Office Website:www.searo.who.int Email: searnargis@searo.who.int]

? HIGHLIGHTS
1. Approximately 50 per cent of the rural and township health centres in the cyclone-affected areas of Myanmar are reported to be damaged.

2. WHO has received funding from the UN CERF Rapid Response Grant to address the priority health needs of the people in the cyclone-affected areas of Myanmar. This will be utilized in joint collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Government of Myanmar to provide equipment, supplies and technical manpower. Supplies such as 100 fogging machines to help prevent vector-borne diseases, 2000 surgical masks and 500 examination gloves have already been dispatched to the affected areas on 14 May 2008.

3. Health sector support is being provided in the affected areas through organizations working under the umbrella of the health cluster. A range of response activities are being provided including establishing a surveillance and outbreak response system, strengthening the abilities of health facilities to function effectively, and provision of kits for emergency and trauma care.

? HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATE
? Two teams of WHO national consultants have successfully handed over medical supplies distributed by the international/national health partners to hospitals/doctors in the townships of Bogale and Laputta.
? Medical care is now being focused on survivors staying in the relief shelters. Local NGOs, through their volunteers, are now in position to access the remote parts of the affected areas.
? Approximately 50 per cent of rural and township health centres in the Irrawaddy area have been damaged. The majority of centres have lost their roofs.
? The hospital in Mau Bin has become the referral hospital for townships in Irrawady.
? The Government of Myanmar has decided to accept technical assistance from the ASEAN countries and a rapid assessment team is likely to arrive shortly.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Supplies
? The Norwegian government has agreed to donate water purification equipment which would facilitate access to clean water for use in 4 hospitals and 20 health centres in the affected areas. They are likely to reach their destination in coming days. The Norwegian government has also agreed to provide 20 Interagency Emergency Health Kits 2006, each of which provides for the health needs of 30 000 people for one month, and five Interagency Diarrhoeal Disease kits.
? WHO has supplied 500 boxes of surgical gloves and 2000 boxes of surgical masks to Myanmar on 14 May 2008.
? To assist in preventing any potential outbreak of vector-borne diseases, 100 fogging machines have been dispatched to Myanmar on 14 May 2008.
? A World Food Programme plane carrying three WHO Interagency Emergency Health kits and one supplementary malaria module has left Dubai today on its way to Myanmar.
? Additionally 2000 vials of anti-viper venom have been procured to be sent to Myanmar from Thailand as the affected regions of Myanmar are prone to snake bites.
? The Ministry of Health has reported that the country has enough supplies of anti-tetanus serum.

2. Funds
? WHO has received funding support from the UN CERF Rapid Response Grant to address the priority health needs of the people in the cyclone-affected areas of Myanmar. The funds will be used for a range of activities including establishing a surveillance and outbreak response system, strengthening the abilities of health facilities to function effectively, and provision of kits for emergency and trauma care.

3. Surveillance
? The surveillance and data reporting system has been streamlined and refined to be used by all the health sector agencies. This will facilitate uniform collection, compilation and analysis of the available information on selected diseases including diarrhoea, malaria, dengue and snake bites.

4. Vaccination
? The Ministry of Health has begun measles vaccination campaigns for children in relief camps between the ages of 9 months to 5 years.
? Those injured are being immunized by tetanus-toxoid (TT) vaccine.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? Participation in the health cluster meetings in Myanmar has increased, with more than 50 representatives of 30 international NGOs and UN agencies.
? The Health Cluster has agreed to adopt a common approach for health sector intervention in the affected areas. The exchange of information, using common matrix, ensures a wide coverage of health assistance without duplication of efforts.
? The meeting discussed the current gaps and ways to concentrate health services in priority areas.

? NEXT STEPS
? Finalization of a joint action plan and charting out activities for the health cluster for the next 3-6 months.
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Giuseppe · May 15, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report - No. 9 - 15 May 2008

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

* HIGHLIGHTS - HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATE

1. According to information from the Myanmar state media, the death toll from Cyclone Nargis is now 34 273 with another 27 836 people missing.
2. To facilitate detection and confirmation of disease cases, 500 dengue test kits and two cholera kits with material for 100 samples each are being dispatched.
3. The various health cluster partners are establishing emergency clinics with medical equipment and drugs, distributing relief items as well as working on hygiene promotion in the affected areas.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Supplies
? To assist in preventing any potential outbreak of vector-borne diseases, 13 000 insecticide-treated bednets have been sent to Myanmar, and another 20 000 will be dispatched shortly.
? Five hundred Dengue test kits have also been sent to the country to help detect dengue cases in the cyclone-affected areas.
? Forty thousand tablets of the insecticide deltamethrin are also being dispatched for use in preventing the spread of diseases due to vectors and pests.
? Two cholera testing kits, sufficient for 100 samples each, are being procured to help detect and confirm potential cholera cases.

2. Medical Care
? The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is establishing emergency clinics with medical equipment, drugs and supplies in the cyclone affected areas.
? IOM has also expressed an intention of focusing on mental health assessment of the affected population, and capacity building efforts to deal with the situation.
? The Red Cross is distributing relief items such as hygiene kits, water purification and mosquito nets as well as working in settlement areas for hygiene promotion.

3. Surveillance
? The streamlined surveillance and data reporting forms are being distributed to partners as well as hospitals and health centres. This will facilitate uniform collection, compilation and analysis of the available information on selected diseases including diarrhoea, malaria, dengue and snake bites.
? Surveillance officers at the township level are working to enhance information transfer and sharing.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? Participation in the health cluster meetings in Myanmar has increased, with more than 60 representatives of 30 international NGOs and UN agencies.
? The Health Cluster matrix showing who is doing what where (3W) is now ready and is expected to facilitate a more efficient response by the health sector.

? NEXT STEPS
? Finalization of a joint action plan and charting out activities for the health cluster for the next 3-6 months.
? WHO continues to mobilize the donor community to provide stronger support to the health sector emergency response.
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Snowy Owl · May 16, 2008

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

Welcome to the Burmese Police State

http://www.spiegel.de/international/

JUNTA HUSHES UP EXTENT OF TRAGEDY

By our reporter in Rangoon

With more than 180,000 dead and 2.5 million affected, the suffering in Burma is growing by the day because the ruling junta continues to block foreign aid. The Burmese military would like to cut off the country from the rest of the world again as soon as possible.

<script type="text/javascript">  </script> The man in the brown uniform is friendly, yet very assertive. "The road leads to a restricted zone. We can't let you enter at the moment," he says, while he meticulously makes a note of our passport details and our hotels in a thick book.

Then the policeman, who is manning a checkpoint in south Rangoon, pulls out a digital camera and asks if he can take our picture. "No problem," he keeps saying with a smile on his face. "We are only doing this for your protection, surely you understand that."

It is Wednesday morning local time. After long negotiations, a driver has agreed to take us in the direction of Bogalay -- one of the areas worst hit by Cyclone Nargis <nobr>(more...)</nobr>, where up to 10,000 people have died. He and another Burmese companion are risking a lot by helping foreign reporters -- something that now becomes very clear to us. The police are far more interested in the identity cards of the men than they are in our passports.

We will not arrive in Bogalay today -- nor is it likely we will get there in the coming days. We try three different routes to the south -- by car, with a small boat and lastly by motorbike over muddy dirt tracks that are lined with torn bamboo huts and fallen trees. All attempts end at police checkpoints. Each time our personal information is taken down, and in the end we are quite rudely asked to drive back to Rangoon.

The junta does not like the fact that journalists are in the country: They want to keep Burma sealed off to outsiders.

Official Death Count Hides Extent of Disaster

Instead of finally providing help for the victims of the cyclone, the junta is continuing to seal off the disaster zone. A journey to the Irrawaddy Delta becomes an absurd cat-and-mouse game with the authorities, while people wait in vain for help at road sides.

What emerges is a country in which the suffering increases with each passing day: According to International Red Cross and Red Crescent estimates, the storm may have killed up to 128,000 people.

The United Nations estimates that 1.6 million to 2.5 million people are suffering acutely as a result of the cyclone. The junta, however, talks about 34,000 dead and 27,000 missing.

 INTERACTIVE MAP

Cyclone Catastrophe: Cyclone Nargis hit one of Asia's poorest countries.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an urgent meeting to improve the aid situation for Burma's cyclone victims. He says "all options" should be discussed in order to get humanitarian relief aid to Burma faster and more efficiently.

The world cannot really measure how well or badly the support for the victims is really going. Although there are many journalists in Rangoon's hotels these days, who pretend to be tourists and go on conspiratorial trips into the disaster areas with Burmese tour guides, the junta is fully focused on ensuring that no reporter gets to see the misery in the disaster zones.
"Every entry into the country is being carefully registered," a Western diplomat said. "It's all about ensuring that the very worst pictures are kept out of the news."

Harrassing Reporters Instead of Helping People

Welcome to the Burmese police state. Because of the incidents at the checkpoints, there are now at least three snapshots of us in the files of the secret police -- and that's not even counting the photos secretly taken at the airport. As absurd as it may seem, instead of providing aid to its people, the Burmese junta has succeeded masterfully in recent days in resurrecting a police state apparatus with thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands, of spies and a system that leaves people in fear of being persecuted.

Discuss the issue with other SPIEGEL ONLINE readers!
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Latest Post: Yesterday 04:39 pm
By dgs

As we head south, police, soldiers and intelligence officials who are mostly wearing sweatsuits as they conduct checks, meticulously radio our information back to headquarters. The hectic pace with which the authorities are acting is made even more absurd by the fact that long before the checkpoints, you can already see how badly people are suffering -- and compared to us, they are hardly getting any attention from the state.

At the edge of Rangoon, not even 40 kilometers from the airport, where several planes carrying relief supplies are finally starting to land, there are no real excuses for the failure of aid to arrive. There are no distribution difficulties, it's not far from the airport to the delta, and the roads are fine. By truck, it would only take an hour to get a delivery to Nyaung Gon, one of Rangoon's poorest neighborhoods.

Mayana Swe can see the planes arriving from abroad with her own eyes. The 36-year-old is sitting in front of a metal suitcase. Despite the rust, you can still see a red cross on it. Inside, there are bandages and syringes with labels that have yellowed with age. There are about 40 children fussing about around her. Some are crying, and she rocks one baby with diarrhea back to sleep again and again. The others are playing on the ground, which has been polluted with brackish water. The school has now become a Red Cross center, says Swe.

'We Can't Hold Out for Much Longer'

But she hasn't seen much of the aid that's been arriving yet. The parents deposit their children here in the morning as they go into the city to look for food, Swe explains. In the last few days, she has received from the state, but more often from the village elder, a few sacks of rice now and again. But the rice is sometimes moldy and is only ever enough for a day or two anyway. "We can't hold out for much longer," she says, "especially the children."

Swe takes careful pains not to name those responsible for the suffering. It's a typical Burmese conversation in which fear of the police apparatus is constantly present.

Swe is looking for explanations, talking about problems the country and government has to contend with. Maybe other regions need help more urgently, she concludes, astonishingly. But perhaps the government doesn't even really care about the suffering of Swe and the children.

Observations in Rangoon confirm this suspicion. The military is trying hard to show it is doing something. Soldiers can be seen with heavy equipment, clearing away the countless uprooted trees. The government wants Rangoon to look as it did before and distract from the misery that has befallen the south of the country -- at least that seems to be its strategy. If at the same time there are no reports of the misery in the disaster zones, the world might quickly turn its attention away from Burma.

Keeping its People in the Dark

Rangoon once again has sporadic electricity, even though at night the city still looks like a ghost town where lights are few and far between. The mobile phone network, to which only the elite have access, is working again. But you have to pay thousands of dollars for a SIM card that doesn't even allow you to phone abroad. In an autocracy, communication is a threat -- and that's something this junta recognized early on. That is why the Internet is also strictly controlled.

http://service.spiegel.de/backoffice/newsletter-service.do?product=spon-en-newsletter

Even so, the junta still cannot prevent many small impressions of the situation in Burma from being collected. A German photographer, for example, saw what has happened to some of the Western relief supplies: Several boxes bearing the names of international relief organizations suddenly appeared in his hotel. Instead of being handed out to the needy, they were hauled to the hotel's goods entrance. Other aid workers have reported organized theft in the warehouses of relief organizations.

Mayana Swe knows nothing about this. In the coming days she will wait for further help und try to get hold of the essentials. UN experts predict that her village is among those settlements threatened by outbreaks of cholera and typhus.

But the junta will try to hush this up, too. And perhaps tomorrow foreigners will be forbidden from taking the ferry to the poverty-stricken district of Nyaung Gon.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,553479,00.html

Giuseppe · May 16, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] HIGHLIGHTS - HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATEWHO South East Asia Regional Office Website:www.searo.who.int Email: searnargis@searo.who.int
Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 10 - 16 May 2008

1. According to information from the Myanmar state media, the death toll from Cyclone Nargis is now 77 738 with 19 359 injured. Another 55 917 people are still reported missing.

2. Five out of six station hospitals in Ngaputaw township are reported to have been destroyed. The township hospital is however functional. Referral cases are being sent to Pathein township's hospital.

3. There are adequate stocks in the country to deal with potential outbreaks of severe diarrhoea.

? According to information from the Myanmar state media, the death toll from Cyclone Nargis is now 77 738 with 19 359 injured. Another 55 917 people are still reported missing.

? Five out of six station hospitals in Ngaputaw township are reported to have been destroyed. The township hospital is however functional. Referral cases are being sent to Pathein township's hospital.

? There has been no confirmed disease outbreaks but cases of diarrhoea have been reported. Disease surveillance is being further strengthened . Putting prevention and control measures in place remains a priority.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Supplies
? There are adequate stocks in the country to deal with potential outbreaks of severe diarrhoea. The WHO and UNICEF stocks include 30,000 i/v fluid drip packs, 50,000 ORS sachets, and 500,000 doxycycline tablets (with equal numbers in reserve). Additional supplies for the treatment of severe diarrhoea as well as water purification tablets are on their way.

? WHO delivered one Emergency Health kit to the hospital in Maubin, which is acting as referral hospital for Pyanpon, Bogale, Kyaiklat and Dedaye.

? In response to the request of the Regional Surveillance Officer in Pathein, WHO is sending additional supplies for the management of diarrhoeal diseases.

? Thirty basic units of Interagency Emergency Health Kits and other medical supplies procured by UNICEF, including ORS and zinc, have arrived to Yangon. They are sufficient for the treatment of more than 80,000 cases of diarrhoea.

? An additional 125 fogging machines have arrived in Myanmar.

? Supplies of viper anti-venom are now available. Cases of snakebite have been reported in Shwepyithar township of Yangon division.

2. Medical Care
? UNICEF deployed five additional public health experts to Myaung Mya, Maubin, Wakema, Pyapon and Mawlamyinegyu, bringing the total to 11 in seven townships in Ayawadee. They will facilitate health sector coordination at the field level, provide technical support, supply medicines and assist field monitoring and emergency response.

? Seven public health doctors from UNICEF have been visiting Hlaing Thayar,Dala, Kyaun Tan, Kungyangon, Kawhmu, Kayan/Thongwa, and Kee Myint Taing everyday since a day after the cyclone to assess the health situation and identify needs as well as monitor the response.

? The WHO guidelines on the management of cholera were distributed to Health Cluster partners. NGOs are encouraged to contact WHO and UNICEF if more copies are needed.

? MSF-Holland is providing relief services in Ngaputaw and Labutta townships; 25 medical teams and 200 staff, including 28 medical doctors, were redeployed. Twelve boats are available to move medical teams southwards into the most affected coastal areas. MSF-Holland also confirmed that no disease outbreaks have yet been detected in these areas. The main health concerns reported are injuries, acute respiratory infections and diarrhoea.

3. Surveillance
? Disease surveillance has been further intensified, particularly for diarrhoea, cholera, measles, dengue haemorrhagic fever and malaria.

? Streamlined surveillance and data reporting forms are being distributed to partners, hospitals and health centres. They will facilitate the uniform collection, compilation and analysis of the available information on selected diseases including diarrhoea, malaria, dengue and snake bites.

? Surveillance officers at the township level are working to enhance the transmission and sharing of information.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? Participation in the Health Cluster meetings in Myanmar has increased, with more than 60 representatives of 30 international NGOs and UN agencies.

? A Civil Society Information Resource Centre was opened on 15 May for local self-help groups at the initiative of INGO Forum.

? WHO and UNFPA are addressing reproductive health and maternal health needs and looking into ways to fill the urgent need for basic reproductive health kits.

? Further steps have been initiated to increase coordination between clusters; Health Cluster national staff members are receiving updated information from the Water and Sanitation and Shelter clusters, among others.

? NEXT STEPS
? A joint action plan and charting out of activities for the Health Cluster for the next 3 to 6 months is being finalized.

? WHO continues to mobilize the donor community to provide stronger support to the health sector emergency response.

? Psychosocial support is likely to be an important issue in the next few weeks, and WHO guidelines and protocols in the local language have been sent to Myanmar.
-
-----

Snowy Owl · May 17, 2008

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

France angered by Burmese delays

France's ambassador to the UN has accused Burma's government of being on the verge of committing a crime against humanity by not accepting foreign aid.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7405998.stm

Jean-Maurice Ripert made the comment during a General Assembly session, after Burma's UN ambassador accused France of sending a warship to region.

France says the ship is carrying 1,500 tonnes of food and medicine for survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

State TV has put the official death toll of the 2 May storm at 78,000.


Another 56,000 people are thought to be missing according to the latest official estimates, which nearly double the figures released on Thursday, raising fears the final human toll may be enormous.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said a natural disaster has been turned into a man-made catastrophe because of the negligence of the Burmese generals.

"The responsibility lies with the Burmese regime, and they must be held accountable," Mr Brown told the BBC.

Refusing aid by sea

Mr Ripert angrily rejected Burmese allegations the French ship in international waters off Burma's coast was a warship.
 
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 People wait for help in the worst-hit Irrawaddy Delta

 

The French UN ambassador warned that the Burmese government's refusal to allow aid to be delivered to those who needed it "could lead to a true crime against humanity".

"Hundreds of thousands of lives are in jeopardy and we think that the primary responsibility of the government of Myanmar (Burma) is to help and open the borders so that the international aid could come into the place," he said.

A US naval task force is also waiting off the Burmese coast for permission to deliver large consignments of aid, including drinking water, but so far the Burmese military government has refused relief aid arriving by sea.

Foreign aid agencies, too, are frustrated at the slow progress of aid to areas worst hit, especially in the Irrawaddy Delta.

However, a team of 50 Indian medical personnel is being flown into Rangoon on Saturday, equipped with medical supplies.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder says the government is making an exception to its reluctance to accept foreign aid, because India has close ties to the Burmese junta.

Heavy rain

A BBC reporter in the delta this week saw little sign of official help and foreign aid workers have been barred from the area.

Natalia Antelava saw muddy river banks lined with white, swollen bodies, and found survivors with barely enough rice to live on.

The Red Cross is seeking more than $50m (?26m) in aid to help survivors of the storm which struck on 2-3 May.


<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="231"> <tbody><tr> <td width="5">

</td> <td class="sibtbg"> EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION

See map and satellite images
Send us your comments

</td> </tr> </tbody></table>  Heavy rain has been lashing the region, compounding the misery of cyclone survivors.

The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator, John Holmes, is due to visit Rangoon, Burma's main city, on Sunday in a bid to persuade the military government to grant more access to UN relief workers and expand its aid effort.

Earlier, the EU's top aid official, Louis Michel, was denied permission to visit the delta region. He said he was given no explanation why disaster emergency experts were being refused visas.

But Burma's authorities have promised to take foreign diplomats on a tour of the region this weekend, although it is not clear how much access the group will have to areas outside the official tour route.

'Beggars for miles'

Burma blamed its sudden increase in the estimated death toll on difficulties in confirming the extent of damage in the worst-affected areas.


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Every possible pressure must be used to get them to understand that they must help us help them

Lois Michel
EU aid official

Eyewitness: Barred from Burma

</td> </tr> </tbody></table>  The difficulty in getting accurate figures is inevitable bearing in mind the scarce resources there are on the ground to assess the needs of survivors, says the BBC's Chris Hogg in Bangkok.

A Reuters team travelling to Kunyangon, around 100km (60 miles) south-west of Rangoon, found rows of beggars stretching for miles on either side of a road.

Men, women and children stood in the mud and rain, hands clasped together in supplication at the occasional passing aid vehicle.

Many relief workers are awaiting visas and most of those who have been allowed into the country remain confined to Rangoon.

'Time is life'

Speaking in Bangkok after his visit to Burma, the EU's Louis Michel said the world needed to impress upon Burma's rulers the urgency of survivors' needs.


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Further hardship awaits survivors whose crops have been destroyed

</td></tr> </tbody></table>  "Time is life," he said.

"Every possible pressure - all rhetorical and diplomatic means - must be used to get them to understand that they must help us help them."

At this stage it is not clear who he will be able to talk to given that Burma's leader, Thein Sein, has refused to answer calls from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

In the last few days, Burma has agreed to allow a few experts from neighbouring countries in to help.

While this may not be as many as the international community thinks are needed, UN officials believe this is an opportunity to show the military government that aid-workers' motives are humanitarian, not political.

According to the Red Cross, aid agencies have been able to reach less than a third of cyclone victims and hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of diseases such as dysentery because of lack of clean water.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) is due to hold a high-level meeting in the coming days that is expected to lay the framework for a broader aid donors' conference.

Burma's military leadership, meanwhile, has warned that those who hoard or sell aid on the black market will be prosecuted, amid international reports of misuse of some aid shipments.

Giuseppe · May 17, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster Situation Report No. 11 - 17 May 2008

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

? HIGHLIGHTS
HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATE

1. Medical supplies such as emergency health kits and water and sanitation equipment continue to be the priority public health requirements for the cyclone-affected population.
WHO and partner health agencies are bringing these supplies inside the country to supplement the efforts of the Myanmar health authorities.

2. Fogging machines are being used extensively in spraying the temporary shelters in some affected townships in an effort to prevent and control the spread of vector-borne diseases.

3. Disease surveillance efforts have been further strengthened and revitalized to increase the pace of information flow and establish that daily reporting is in place.

? According to information available from the Myanmar state media, the death toll from Cyclone Nargis has risen now to 77 738 and 19 359 injured. Another 55 917 people are still reported missing.

? In Ngaputaw township
o The most common conditions reported after the cyclone are injuries, followed by acute respiratory infections (ARIs), gastroenteritis, dysentery and malaria. Before the cyclone, the most common diseases were malaria, gastroenteritis, acute respiratory infections, dysentery and tuberculosis.

o Forty six per cent of the population in the township was affected by the cyclone and forty nine per cent of houses suffered some damage.

o Key health equipment such as X-ray machines and medical stores were lost in the damaged health centers and hospitals, and there is a need for medical supplies.

o Township health and local authorities in Ngaputaw have also alerted the local population on larvae control to prevent and control dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF).

? Sixteen temporary shelters were opened near affected areas in Ngaputaw township and four in Pathein.

? Fogging machines have been used by government authorities to spray temporary shelters in some affected areas in an effort to prevent and control the spread of vector-borne diseases.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Supplies
? The health authorities have requested the health cluster group to provide medical supplies such as basic antibiotics, Oral Rehydration Salts, normal saline, dextrose saline, bandages, gauze, plaster and syringes.

? MSF reported that they have flown in four cargo planes with emergency items including water and sanitation equipment, medical supplies, therapeutic food and other relief supplies.

? One of the Health Cluster partners has reported the availability of eleven interagency emergency health kits. Each kit has supplies for 10 000 people for three months.

? WHO has kept the following medical supplies in stock to meet the future emergency health needs.

o Thirty thousand ringer lactate solutions

o Fifty thousand doxycycline tablets.

2. Medical Care
? More than 250 Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) staff in Myanmar are working in 20 different locations.

? Health cluster partners will also focus on screening for malnutrition.

3. Surveillance
? Disease surveillance has been further intensified, particularly for diarrhoea, cholera, measles, dengue haemorrhagic fever and malaria.

? Disease cases are being reported on a daily basis in response to the Health cluster partners? need for a more rapid flow of information.

? WHO as health cluster lead will verify any rumors of disease outbreaks in collaboration with the agency from which the report originated.

? HEALTH COORDINATION

? The health cluster has established three operations centres in the townships of Pathein, Labutta and Bogale.

? The Humanitarian Information Centre web site for Myanmar has been established.

? NEXT STEPS
? A joint action plan and charting of activities for the Health Cluster for the next 3 to 6 months is being finalized.

? WHO continues to mobilize the donor community to provide stronger support to the health sector emergency response. Australia donated 2.4 million Australian dollars and DFID will increase its contribution US$ 493 000. The Flash Appeal will be revised and readjusted during the following weeks as assessments bring in more clear information on needs.

? Psychosocial support is likely to be an important issue in the next few weeks, and WHO guidelines and protocols in the local language have been sent to Myanmar.
-
------

Sunshine123 · May 17, 2008

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

Burma Prepares for Second Storm

http://earthchangesmedia.com/

A second storm is heading towards Burma's devastated Irrawaddy delta region. Even as it gathered strength the UN warned that so little aid has reached the two million survivors of the last deadly cyclone there could be a second wave of deaths from disease and starvation.
May 16, 2008 - 6:05:28 AM

Giuseppe · May 18, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 12 - 18 May 2008

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

? HIGHLIGHTS

*HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATE
1. The priority is to bring to the affected population what they need, and health is high in the list.
As of today, the Health Cluster has made available more than 350 metric tonnes of medical supplies and equipment for the cyclone-affected areas.
These include three million water purification sachets, 90 000 water containers, more than 50 000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets, shelter equipment, emergency health kits and essential medicines as requested by the national and local health authorities.

2. The Myanmar health authorities are striving to provide daily reports on disease cases from the affected townships. These are being shared by the Divisional Health Director office with the Central Epidemiological Unit (CEU).

3. UNAIDS reports that in spite of the cyclone, all anti-retroviral therapy (ART) services are functioning and providing the necessary services to the HIV-positive community in the affected areas. Most service points delivering ART are taking special measures to track and assess patients' needs and drug supplies.

? The latest report from Myanmar state media inform that the numbers of those dead or missing after Cyclone Nargis have exceeded 132 000.

? The Health Cluster is supporting, with medical supplies, 200 extended first-aid posts run by doctors from the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Myanmar Red Cross volunteers in the cyclone-affected areas.

? Heavy rains continue to affect conditions for road transport of supplies, including medical supplies.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Supplies
? The Health Cluster has procured more than 350 metric tonnes of medical supplies and equipment for the cyclone-affected regions of Myanmar to date.
These include three million water purification sachets, 90 000 water containers, more than 50 000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets, shelter equipment, emergency health kits and essential medicines requested by the national and local health authorities.

? The health partners are supplying 80 basic health units to the health centres in rural areas. This is in addition to the basic malaria treatment module which is also being supplied.

? In two days, IFRC will start operating a water and sanitation unit for 40 000 people.

? UNICEF has received 30 emergency health kits and therapeutic food.

2. Medical Care
? According to UNAIDS, all ART services are functioning and providing the necessary services to the HIV-positive community in the affected areas.
Most service points delivering ART are taking special measures to track and assess patients' needs and drug supplies.
The Myanmar Positive Group in collaboration with local community organizations such as Phoenix group and with support from HIV/AIDS Alliance and UNDP and other organizations working with self-help groups such as AFXB are tracking all their members and organizing to ensure that relief supplies, including shelter rehabilitation, are being provided.

? Currently all WHO Myanmar Regional Surveillance Officers have been deputed for relief operations and health care in most affected townships.

? IFRC has mobilized four basic health clinics (emergency response units).

? UNICEF and other INGOS are working with the Ministry of Health to finalize distribution plans for therapeutic feeding supplies for three hospitals in the affected areas that have trained paediatricians.

? Some NGOs are planning to undertake a rapid assessment of the nutritional status of the people in the cyclone-affected areas and prepare draft plans for management of acute malnutrition.

? WHO, UNICEF and IFRC are preparing a statement on appropriate child feeding in emergencies as concern has been expressed about rumours of distribution of breast milk substitutes in the cyclone-affected areas.

3. Surveillance
? The Myanmar health authorities are providing daily reports on disease cases from the affected townships. These are being provided from Divisional Health Director office to Central Epidemiological Unit (CEU). The Health Cluster has requested the Ministry of Health to share these reports on a daily basis.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? The health cluster has established three operations centres in the townships of Pathein, Labutta and Bogale.

? The Humanitarian Information Centre web site for Myanmar has been established.

? NEXT STEPS
? A joint action plan and charting of activities for the Health Cluster for the next 3 to 6 months is being finalized.

? WHO continues to advocate with the donors to mobilize stronger support for the health sector. Australia donated 2.4 million Australian dollars and DFID will increase its contribution US$ 493 000. The Flash Appeal will be revised and readjusted during the following weeks as assessments bring in more clear information on needs.

? Psychosocial support is likely to be an important issue in the next few weeks, and WHO guidelines and protocols in the local language have been sent to Myanmar.
-
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Snowy Owl · May 19, 2008

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

Burma to allow relief workers into the country

Published: Monday 19 May 2008 11:17 UTC
Last updated: Monday 19 May 2008 11:17 UTC

Burma has promised at an emergency meeting in Singapore of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, to allow relief workers into the country.

Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo says ASEAN will help coordinate the flow of supplies to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma on 2 May.

Until now, Burma has only permitted the entry of a limited number of supplies.

A French ship has been waiting in the Irrawaddy Delta, the region devastated by the cyclone, for permission to unload its cargo. The ship is carrying enough food to feed 100,000 people for two weeks and tents which can shelter 60,000 people. The Burmese government has refused to let the ship dock on its soil.

The death toll stands at 78,000; around 56,000 people are still missing.

The United Nations World Health Organisation says that 70 percent of the cyclone's victims have not yet received food supplies. An estimated 750,000 people urgently need of food.

http://www.radionetherlands.nl

Giuseppe · May 19, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 13 - 19 May 2008

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

? HIGHLIGHTS
*HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATE
1. Key hospitals are functioning. However, outlying areas are difficult to reach. The Ministry of health is trying to expand coverage by sending health assistants and midwives to health centres and healthcare delivery points.

2. Reports from Health Cluster partners call for psychosocial support to the affected people. WHO guidelines for mental health in emergencies have already been translated into the local language. However the local human capacity to respond to this need are limited.

3. The latest report from the state media inform that the death toll is 77 738, with another 55 917 missing, and 19 359 injured. The United Nations? latest estimate is that 2.4 million people are affected, many of them severely and that 150 000 people are living in 120 temporary settlements in the Irrawoady delta.

? The latest report from the state media inform that the death toll is 77 738, with another 55 917 missing, and 19 359 injured. State media also report that Myanmar has spent over 50 billion kyats in relief and rehabilitation efforts so far.

? The UN estimates that 2.4 million people are affected. Initial UN estimates also indicate that there are 150 000 people living in 120 temporary settlements in the Irrawady delta.

? The Ministry of Health has a team of high-level officials working out of Yangon General Hospital responsible for planning, managing and coordinating the overall emergency response in health.

? Key hospitals are functioning and health supplies continue to reach the major administrative centres. However, outlying areas are difficult to reach, and many health structures are damaged or destroyed.

? The Ministry of Health is expanding coverage beyond hospitals by sending health assistants and midwives to strengthen the human resources at health centres and healthcare delivery points. The health workers are conducting such as chlorination, vaccination, setting up mobile health outreach teams, disease surveillance. They will be involved in health promotion as well.

? The Ministry of Health has redeployed 10 medical doctors and 12 nurses as well as three Public Health Officers from Mandalay and Yangon General Hospital to Ma U Bin hospital.

? The government is encouraging private companies to assist in the damaged areas. This also applies to private hospitals, one of which is sending a medical team and nurses to undertake medical care in Ngaputaw.

? The government organized, for international partners, a visit of affected areas which included temporary shelters in Kyauktan, Dedadye and Kungyangon townships. The shelters were well set up and included medical services. However they have a limited capacity to respond to the large number of people needing assistance.

? John Holmes, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, has arrived in Yangon and will meet with the Cluster leads.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Supplies
? WHO supplied one emergency health kit to the Ma U Bin Hospital which is functioning as a referral hospital for the affected areas. The kit will cover 10 000 people for three months.

? The 2000 anti-snake venom vials that arrived from Thailand have been dispatched to the affected areas.

? UNFPA reports that their relief supplies cover a population of 150 000 and the target for next week is to cover 300 000. UNFPA supplies include clean delivery, maternal health and reproductive health kits including family planning items.

2. Medical Care and Human Resources
? Reports from health partners suggest a strong need for psychosocial support to the affected people. WHO has distributed guidelines for mental health in emergencies which have been translated into the local language. However the local capacity to respond to this need is limited.

? UNICEF reports that there is an urgent need to equip the temporary shelters with space for clean and safe delivery and is taking action to this effect, as well as supplying clean delivery kits.

? The Ministry of Health has trained approximately 50 epidemiologists posted in the affected areas in the management and control of gastro-enteritis, as well as engineers to improve water quality and sanitation. WHO provided guidelines to the participants on the management of cholera and acute diarrhoea.

? WHO is also distributing guidelines on management of vector-borne diseases like dengue, leptospirosis and chikungunya for health officials in the affected regions.

? The Department of Health is preparing for a possible dengue outbreak in the affected areas, as this vector-borne disease is endemic in this region, and has sent the insecticide and spraying equipment provided by the Health Cluster.

3. Surveillance
? The daily disease surveillance is limited by difficult access to the worst affected areas. The Health Cluster is exploring ways to make this surveillance more effective and expand its reach by drawing on both formal and informal reports.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? Based on the current needs and logistical feasibility, the UN country team has identified three sub-operational hubs based in Pathein, Labutta and Bogale to support with coordination and information management the humanitarian response. They will be managed by UN national staff. The centres will have multi-sectoral coordination functions.

? WHO provided a briefing for a team of doctors from the Thai Ministry of Public Health that has arrived in Myanmar to support the relief work.

? NEXT STEPS
? The Health Cluster?s plans encompass the relief and recovery phase and are being finalized.

? The Health Cluster and Water and Sanitation (WASH) clusters are strengthening their collaboration to ensure rapid response to any cases of severe diarrhoea. The health cluster receives rumours and information from different sources, and these are discussed with the WASH cluster lead to agree on suitable action. The WASH cluster has teams available and is able to send ORS and chlorination supplies to the areas where cases have been reported.

? WHO continues to advocate with the donors to mobilize stronger support for the health sector. Australia donated 2.4 million Australian dollars and DFID will increase its contribution US$ 493 000. The Flash Appeal will be revised and readjusted during the coming weeks as assessments bring in more clear information on needs.
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Snowy Owl · May 20, 2008

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

Britain to back air drops to deliver aid to Burmese cyclone victims

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3958892.ece

Kenneth Denby in Rangoon
 Britain would support unilateral humanitarian intervention in Burma if the military government?s refusal to accept foreign aid for the victims of Cyclone Nargis results in epidemics and widespread deaths, Lord Malloch-Brown, the Foreign Office Minister, told The Times yesterday.

Lord Malloch-Brown was in Rangoon, the former Burmese capital, as part of an international effort to break the deadlock which has left many of the 2.5 million victims of the cyclone bereft of food, shelter, fresh water and medical care.

The United Nations? humanitarian chief, Sir John Holmes, arrived in the city last night and Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, will also travel to Burma this week to make the case for an aid operation fronted by SouthEast Asian nations, India and China, but containing a strong UN component.

But Britain has not ruled out supporting action under the terms of the UN?s 2005 New York declaration, which sets out the ?responsibility to protect? populations from crimes against humanity using ?appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means?.

In a radio interview on Saturday, Gordon Brown referred to the possibility of unilaterally dropping international aid to stricken areas of the Irrawaddy delta, where as many as 129,000 people are believed to have died a fortnight ago.

?As far as air drops are concerned we rule nothing out, and the reason we rule nothing out, is that we want to get the aid directly to the people,? Mr Brown told the BBC.
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Asked under what circumstances Britain would invoke the responsibility to protect, Lord Malloch-Brown said: ?How do we define if it [the plan for Asian-led aid] isn?t working?

If there are massive outbreaks of disease and secondary deaths, or if it gums up and no aid is delivered.? Western governments and international aid organisations appear to have accepted that the solution they would have liked to bring to Burma ? a massive humanitarian aid operation by western NGOs under UN leadership, such as the one mounted in Aceh, Indonesia, after the 2004 tsunami ? is out of the question.

The generals who rule Burma know full well the contempt with which they are regarded in the West, and view its aid workers, especially from the former coloniser, Britain, as a Trojan Horse that could undermine even further their legitimacy in the eyes of their own people.

Instead, they are being offered a face-saving compromise in which India, China and the members of the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (Asean) would work with the UN.

?They?re not going to agree to a lot of British and American aid workers fanning out across the delta,? Lord Malloch-Brown said after meetings with a series of Burmese ministers. ?We?ve got an emerging model where the likes of us will work within a framework, led by Asean, other Asian nations and the UN.

?The price of recognising historical suspicions and the political past is that it won?t allow direct Western aid to be delivered to a village by a Brit, for example. [For the Burmese Government], the price of us accepting that has to be a strong UN operation.?

That the junta has accepted a visit from Ban Ki Moon may suggest a willingness to compromise. ?I hope a corner has been turned and that we?re moving into positive territory,? Lord Malloch-Brown said. ?I hope that we have found a solution.?

But the offer of a cooperative aid operation is being reinforced by the threat of the alternative ? a unilateral aid operation enforced by a foreign armada which is discreetly assembling off the coast. The French ship Le Mistral arrived in international waters on Saturday carrying 1,000 tons of aid for 15,000 people. The frigate HMS Westminster is also in the region, carrying helicopters rather than supplies, as well as the American USS Essex.

All three governments insist that they come in peace to offer aid and logistical support for an aid operation to disaster victims, many of whom are accessible only by boat or by air.

The regime?s paranoia is believed to be one of the factors which led it to relocate from Rangoon in 2005 to the new jungle capital of Naypyidaw. A few US Air Force aircraft have landed at Rangoon with supplies, but Western officials acknowledge that the chances of permission for a foreign military presence in the delta are slim.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3958892.ece

Giuseppe · May 20, 2008

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

[MYANMAR, WHO, UPDATES] Health Cluster - Situation Report No. 14 - 20 May 2008
WHO South East Asia Regional Office Website:www.searo.who.int Email: searnargis@searo.who.int

? HIGHLIGHTS, HEALTH ASSESSMENT & SITUATION UPDATE
1. The Ministry of Health reports that 90 000 outpatients and 10 000 inpatients have been treated in the cyclone-affected areas till 18 May 2008. There have been 2887 mild and 124 severe diarrhoea cases. In a population of 1.5 million, approximately 200 diarrhoea cases per day is within the range seen in previous years.

2. The Ministry of Health is focusing on cross-sectoral prevention measures, such as ensuring clean water, food and shelter, to reduce the risk of communicable disease outbreaks, as water-borne diseases routinely peak in the months of May and June every year.

3. The Ministry of Health has invited health cluster partners to establish and support the surveillance system. The sources of information will extend to the community and not be limited to health workers, in order to strengthen surveillance work and rumour verification.

? The Ministry of Health reports that;
o Ninety thousand outpatients and 10 000 inpatients have been treated till 18 May 2008.

o Across the affected areas, 2887 mild and 124 severe diarrhoea cases have been reported. In a population of 1.5 million, approximately 200 diarrhoea cases per day is within the range seen in previous years.

o Two central-level assessment teams have visited the affected areas. One team was for emergency assistance, the other for logistics and supplies. The teams provided medical care, transferred severely injured patients by helicopter, and provided water and sanitation emergency equipment, including emergency health kits and bleaching powder for water chlorination.

o Three medical ships with 34 doctors are providing health services in the delta area. Another 390 mobile teams are in the field to improve access to health services.

o Government Health professionals are also providing services in 12 ?forefront?, ?middle? and ?rear? relief camps.

o The Ministry of Health has assigned mental health professionals to some areas. Mental health specialists from Thailand have also been deployed.

o The Ministry of Health is focusing on cross-sectoral prevention measures, such as providing clean water, food and shelter, to reduce the risk of communicable disease outbreaks, as water-borne diseases routinely peak in the months of May and June every year.

o Polio and measles immunization in temporary shelters continue. Sufficient measles vaccines are in stock.

? In Dedaye township, the hospital is functioning even though its roof was blown away. All eight rural health centres and 20 sub-centres were badly damaged according to an INGO report.

? As reports of damaged buildings continue to come in, the government has clarified that it is responsible for the rehabilitation of public buildings, but would welcome support form iNGOs and other partners for damaged equipment, instruments and other supplies.

? The Ministry of Health is working closely with UN agencies, local and international NGOs, the private sector and the donor community to ensure that services and supplies reach those who need it without delay.

? International medical teams from Thailand, India, China and Laos are now working in the affected areas with national health professionals.

? HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE

1. Supplies
? WHO has provided more than 65 metric tones of medical drugs, supplies and equipment. This includes more than 3 million tablets of various antibiotics, 15 emergency health kits to cover 450 000 people for a month, 20 000 insecticide treated bed-nets, 15 000 tubes of mosquito repellent cream, 12 800 kg of bleaching powder and 36 000 tablets of chlorine tablets.

* IOM has received 10 000 impregnated mosquito bed-nets.

? CESVI has distributed five emergency kits A and one emergency kit B.

? MoH has invited health cluster partners to assist in transportation of midwives to outlying areas for immunization activities.

2. Medical Care and Human Resources
? WHO, UNICEF, IFRC and ICRC have issued a joint statement on appropriate feeding for infants and young children, cautioning about unnecessary use of milk products, to promote appropriate child feeding practices. The agencies have expressed concerns about milk powder and milk formula being distributed in shelters in the affected areas.

? CESVI is supportive preventive and curative care in Dedaye township, Maternal and Child Health services in four rural health centres and eight subcentres.

? Health partners are to train up to 2000 volunteers in the field of disease prevention and surveillance of communicable diseases.

3. Mental health
? Health Cluster reports have expressed concern on the referral of complicated mental health cases.

? UNICEF has started ?child-friendly corners? in some areas to provide support to children in some affected areas.

? WHO, which has an ongoing programme for mental health in the country, is developing a plan of action. The agency has already distributed guidelines in this subject, translated into the local language.

? IOM also plans to have an active role in providing mental health and psychosocial support.

4. Surveillance
? The Ministry of Health has invited health cluster partners to support and participate in the disease surveillance system in the affected areas.

? The sources of information for disease surveillance and rumour verification will extend to the community and not be limited to health workers, in order to strengthen surveillance work.

? Health partners have also been requested to share information with the township medical officer, public health teams, and regional surveillance officers who are collecting and coordinating such information.

? HEALTH COORDINATION
? The Ministry of Health has been working with UNICEF on health promotion and education activities and has invited more material from health cluster partners.

? In Labutta the health cluster and the water and sanitation cluster meet every alternate day, while the food cluster meets every day.

? Inter-agency partners have agreed to convey health education messages during food distribution.

? NEXT STEPS
? The Health Cluster?s plans encompass the relief and recovery phase and are being finalized.

? WHO and health partners will conduct in-depth assessment of the health situation in coordination with the Ministry of Health.

? 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 more clear information on needs.
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Snowy Owl · May 21, 2008

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

TOP UN RELIEF OFFICIAL MEETS MYANMAR OFFICIALS,
URGING MAJOR AID PUSH

The top United Nations relief official met in Myanmar today with key Government officials, including the Prime Minster, and said that a major push was required to assist victims of the cyclone that has devastated large areas of the country.

Speaking to the press, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said he had noted the need for early recovery in agriculture and fisheries, in parallel with the emergency relief effort, in his discussions with Prime Minister Thein Sein.

He stressed that supplies of clean water, food and medicines will be needed for some months and that recovery was a protracted process.

Mr. Holmes, who also serves as UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said he had discussed all aspects of the response to the disaster, including access and coordination, and how to improve relief operations. Yesterday, he travelled to the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta area, visiting Labutta and Wakema townships and meeting with survivors and speaking with them about their situation.

The UN estimates that 2.4 million people have been affected by Cyclone Nargis and that more than half of them are in need of urgent, priority assistance, with about 500,000 people having so far received some form of international assistance. One concern is that heavy rains are continuing to hamper the relief effort.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of today, some $99.6 million has been committed to relief operations with a further $107.9 million pledged.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is on his way to Myanmar where he intends to help boost the country?s recovery effort. As well as meeting with senior Myanmarese officials, he will attend a pledging conference for international donors, which is co-sponsored by the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), on Sunday.

UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
20 May, 2008

HEADING FOR MYANMAR, BAN KI-MOON PLEDGES TO DO ?UTMOST? TO SPEED AID EFFORTS

As he prepared to leave for Myanmar today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he will do all he can to reinforce the immediate relief effort in the cyclone-devastated country and will also draw attention to the need for long-term reconstruction and development.

?I will do my utmost for the people of Myanmar,? Mr. Ban told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. ?I want to see the conditions under which relief teams are working and I intend to do all I can to reinforce their efforts in coordination with the Myanmar?s authorities and international aid agencies.?

Mr. Ban will arrive in Yangon, Myanmar, early Thursday morning and is set to tour the Irrawaddy delta area ? the part of the country most affected by the cyclone. He said the UN had a functioning relief programme in place but cautioned that it is a ?critical moment? for the country and said that so far aid workers had been able to reach only about 25 per cent of people in need in Myanmar. According to UN estimates, some 2.4 million people have been severely affected by Cyclone Nargis.

On Sunday, the Secretary-General will participate in a pledging conference co-sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to raise funds for the aid effort from international donors.

Mr. Ban said he was travelling to Myanmar to ?demonstrate my sympathy to the people and Government at this time of crisis and challenge, and to see for myself the situation on the ground.? He described the disaster caused by the cyclone as ?unprecedented in Myanmar?s history.?

The Secretary-General said he would coordinate closely with ASEAN and Myanmarese officials and said he was confident that relief efforts could be scaled up quickly. He added that the UN had received Government permission to operate nine World Food Programme (WFP) helicopters which would allow aid workers to reach areas that have so far been largely inaccessible.

Mr. Ban also stressed that the international community had to give thought to Myanmar?s long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation. He said that Cyclone Nargis had ?devastated Myanmar?s agricultural heartland? and that it may already be too late for farmers to plant the next harvest. ?In this sense the economic effects of the natural disaster that has struck Myanmar could be more severe and longer lasting than the 2004 tsunami,? he added.

Major relief efforts continue in Myanmar from the WFP, the UN Children?s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), who among them have delivered food, medical supplies, shelter materials and water purification equipment, and have been monitoring for the outbreak of disease.

_|WHO: MYANMAR CYCLONE NARGIS EMERGENCY UPDATE|_

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