Inaccessible terrain will significantly undermine relief efforts in Myanmar and a widespread lack of health awareness will increase risks to public health in areas ravaged by Cyclone Nargis, according to the former head of the International Federation’s delegation in Yangon.
Speaking in Bangkok where she is helping to coordinate the Red Cross Red Crescent response to the cyclone, Joanna Maclean expressed concerns that the Irrawaddy delta’s intricate system of streams and limited road network would pose serious logistical problems in delivering relief.
“There are very few roads and those roads that do exist are simple dirt tracks,” explained Maclean.
“Most people travel by boat, but even traveling by boat can pose problems. Even at the best of times sand banks along the coast mean some places are accessible only at certain parts of the day, and there is no telling what the effect of the cyclone has been. Channels inland are also likely to be full of debris.”
Based in Yangon from July 2002 to December 2005, Maclean was part of a team that helped the Myanmar Red Cross scale up its disaster response capacity. Since 2000 the International Federation has trained volunteers, helped renovate warehouses, and pre-positioned emergency relief items. However previous disasters have never been on the scale of Cyclone Nargis.
While the response of the Myanmar Red Cross Society has so far been impressive, there can be no doubt that staff and volunteers are completely overwhelmed with the scale of devastation.
Adding to the immense task they now face is a widespread lack of basic health awareness.
“Even the concept of washing hands and covering food was a novel idea for some communities when I was there,” says Maclean. “Many people did not even understand the connection between mosquitoes and malaria and therefore could not take the steps necessary to protect themselves and their families.”
The immediate concern is to provide emergency shelter and clean water, thereby helping to prevent outbreaks of disease such as malaria and typhoid. Red Cross volunteers have been distributing water purification tablets, tarpaulin, and mosquito nets, and are also promoting health awareness. But they face an uphill struggle.
Fourteen days after the cyclone hit people are still in desperate need.
“My fears are that people are not receiving sufficient aid – in many cases, no aid at all,” said MacLean. “The rainy season is also approaching and they will have to endure five months of continuous rain. I have complete faith in the resourcefulness of people in Myanmar, but if you have no resources then you are in a desperate situation.”
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Speaking in Bangkok where she is helping to coordinate the Red Cross Red Crescent response to the cyclone, Joanna Maclean, former head of the International Federation’s delegation in Yangon, expressed concerns that the Irrawaddy delta’s intricate system of streams and limited road network would pose serious logistical problems in delivering relief. (p17644)
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Lack of safe drinking water is a major problems. The immediate concern is to provide emergency shelter and clean water, thereby helping to prevent outbreaks of disease such as malaria and typhoid. (p17608)
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While the response of the Myanmar Red Cross Society has so far been impressive, there can be no doubt that staff and volunteers are completely overwhelmed with the scale of devastation. (p17604)
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