The World Health Organization (WHO) appealed Thursday for medical aid worth US$40 million to help up to 5 million survivors of the killer tsunami in South and Southeast Asia who are without clean water, proper sanitation, health care or shelters.
"Between three and five million people in the region are unable to access the basic requirements they need to stay alive -- clean water, adequate shelter, food, sanitation and health care," WHO said in a statement.
It estimated about 300,000 people were injured with many in need of surgery.
WHO said that only one hospital was still operational in the hardest hit area, the devastated Indonesian province of Aceh, where no electricity or fuel was available.
In coastal areas of Sri Lanka, "much of the public health infrastructure in coastal areas is reportedly damaged and functional units are overwhelmed," WHO said.
Doctors were working around the clock to treat the injured, it added.
The aid would go to bolstering hospitals, ensuring clean water supplies to avoid dysentery, preventing respiratory infections and eliminating the spread of malaria and the dengue fever.
Up to now, WHO has already sent emergency health supplies, including essential medicines, to treat over 330,000 people for three months in the region.