UNICEF- Myanmar Crisis

NEW YORK, 7 May 2008 – With 5,000 square km underwater and an estimated 1 million people homeless and in need of assistance, Myanmar continues to reel from the effects of Cyclone Nargis, which struck last weekend. In its response to the crisis, UNICEF is focusing on providing safe water and hygiene supplies to children and families at risk of life-threatening water-bourne diseases.

UNICEF Myanmar field staff are delivering pre-stocked emergency supplies to Myanmar’s largely flooded Irrawaddy Delta. The aid delivered so far includes thousands of sachets of oral rehydration salts to prevent diarrhoeal dehydration, as well as water purification tablets, family hygiene kits, essential medicines, first aid kits and shelter materials.

Although international humanitarian agencies have offered additional aid from outside the country, dozens of relief workers are still awaiting visas from Myanmar’s military government.

According to the latest reports, some 22,500 people have died and about 41,000 are missing in affected areas. Most of the deaths reportedly came from the tidal wave that followed in the wake of the cyclone.