WHO: Epidemics may spread to tsunami devastated Asian countries
29/12/2004 15:25
The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its concern on Tuesday that
epidemics may spread to quake- and trunami-stricken Asian countries. David
Nabarro, head of crisis operations for WHO, warned in Geneva Tuesday that
diarrhea, malaria and dengue may possibly spread in the disaster areas due to a
lack of clean water and sanitation. "There is certainly a chance that we
could have as many dying from communicable diseases as from the tsunami," he
said. Hospitals and health services already are overwhelmed and may not be
able to cope with people who fall ill with disease, Nabarro said. The WHO is
concerned most about the Aceh region in Indonesia, which is the closest to the
epicenter of Sunday's earthquake and has suffered the largest number of
casualties in the disaster. Nabarro said epidemics are more likely to spread in
the region as armed clashes have continued in Aceh in the past years and
sanitary conditions are very poor. He also stressed that the urgency is to
provide essential supplies, such as drinking water and foods, to those areas and
set up shelters with sanitary facilities to prevent diseases from spreading.
Xinhua
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